And She Is
by Ihearu
Summary: Cat is leaving Beck worried, but will Jade let him out of her sight to actually help her? Set during the holidays for added surprises. Bat, with splashes of Bori & a pinch of Tandre. Now Complete!
1. The Beginning

_A/n: Hi! This is my first Victorious fanfic, so I hope you enjoy. It's a little dark at some points, but I promise it's in the right direction and has a fantastic ending. I know that this pairing is a bit underdeveloped, so I hope to add new dynamic.  
><em>_Enjoy! P.s., I don't own any of these characters. If I did, this is story wouldn't be on this site. Oh and I don't own the script from 'Just Friends'_

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><p><em><strong>And She Is<strong>_

**Chapter One: The Beginning**

"Come on, Jade, we'll be late." I holler at her from up her stairs, tapping my foot for emphasis.

"Who cares! I don't like any of them enough to be thankful we're going anyways."

"_Jadee_. Come on, do this for me?" Begging, trying to pout a little.

"Fine." She tosses her hair over her shoulder, bounding down the steps and heads into the car.

We're headed to the Vega household tonight to celebrate "Thanksalotgiving", a made up holiday where we all get together and eat junk, the week before thanksgiving. Jade has been protesting about it, but I know a part of her wants to go, seeing as she dressed up and took her time getting ready.

As we're driving, nightfall seems to come glimmer, and a lone person was walking, about ten blocks away from Tori's.

I slow the car down realizing who it is.

"Hey, Cat! Why are you walking out here? Come on, we're headed to Tori's too."

Cat looks up from her position, gives me a half smile, and climbs in.

Jade leans over to me, "Do you always pick up girls off the sidewalk at night?"

"Do you ever realize that what you're accusing me of is ridiculous?"

She slouches back in the chair, and I watch Cat enter the car. Her hair seems a bit less bright, and her facial expressions are there to match.

The quiet Cat evokes a ton of questions in my mind, but before I can even begin to ask, Jade beats me to it.

"Cat, what's wrong?" She's always had a soft spot for Cat, no matter how annoyed she may seem.

"Nothing." One word: spoken softly and entirely used to avoid the truth.  
>Jade's glance shifts to my own eyes, and we obviously have enough cause for concern – especially when she didn't respond, "What's that supposed to mean?"<p>

The rest of the ride to the Vega house was silent, I had no clue what to expect from this quiet, reserved side of Cat.

"Andre! Robbie!" With enough energy to make me and my girlfriend jump, Cat rushes out of the back seat, like nothing ever happened prior to it.  
>"Hey, what about me?" Rex asks, as he, Robbie and Andre are walking up the Vega's driveway, spotting the sprinting 90-pound ball of energy bounding up to them.<p>

"Beck," Jade whispers in my ear, "Pretend that never happened. For Cat's sake." I nod slowly; convinced that Jade knew something I did not.

Walking to the house with Jade's hand in mine, Mrs. Vega opens the door cheerfully beckoning us inside, hands full of plastic cups and plates.

"Let me help you with that, ma'm." I take the things from her hands, and she looks grateful. I hear Jade huff at this and she walks away.  
>What a great help.<p>

I contribute more by grabbing Andre and setting out some other things for Mrs. Vega – all the girls were in the living room talking girl about something or other. I'm vaguely sure Robbie was the lead contributor. (Pretty sure Trina or Tori was talking shades of hair color. Yawn.)

As soon as Mr. Vega walks in the door, hands full with pizza and pop, everyone scrambles over to the dinner table, where a feast made for junk food kings is set.

"Okay, well, I want to thank you all for coming tonight, for our first ever thanks-a-lot-giving; so I think we should go around the table saying what we're thankful for – no repeats! – before we dig in."

Everyone nods his or her heads in agreement; although I hear Jade muttering, "what is this, first grade?"

"Er, um, I'll go first. I'm thankful for my family, even though Trina drives me insane, and I'm thankful for my friends."

"I'm thankful for clothes and my amazing singing voice!"

"I'm thankful for my buddy Rex here."

"I'm thankful that I'm a puppet and I don't have to be thankful for anything."

"I'm thankful that Tori invited us all together here."

"I'm thankful that Beck picked me up." Quiet, still bright voice. Stop, what?  
>"I'm thankful for my lovely girlfriend."<p>

"I'm thankful that I'm the last one saying this stupid thing so we can just eat already."

With that Jade grabs a slice of pizza and bites it, then looks at Tori with a carless look on her face.

"Uh, dig in everyone."

I'm sitting there, grabbing polite portions, scowling at Jade, when I bump my elbow accidentally into Cat.

"Aren't you hungry?" I notice her plate, an array of celery, cucumber sticks, and two sushi roll pieces.

She gives me a strange look, looks down at her plate, then back up at me.

"Hmm? I've been eating fast, haven't I? Sorry." She looks sheepish, glancing around bashfully.

"No, Cat, you need to eat more than that!" Andre piles a bunch of things onto her plate, and I hear her sigh, almost under her breath.

"I'm not hungry." 7 pairs of eyebrows raise.

"Oh, come on Cat, its thanksalotgiving, you have to stuff your face!" Trina chimes in, I'm surprised she didn't have some selfish comment to back it up.

"No, that's okay…" Refusal. Cat needs a sugar rush to be Cat like.

"Oh, come on, she's so fat, she doesn't need it." Rex chimes in. I think it came it out sarcastically, but bang, Cat shot out of the chair quicker than anyone I've ever seen and bounded up the stairs.

Everyone froze, unsure of what to do. Tori stood up first, followed by Jade.

My head whipped to Rex and Robbie's seats, glaring daggers at them.

"He didn't mean it! It was a joke!" Robbie says, putting his unused hand up in protest.

"She's like eighty pounds, she needs to get a reality check." Rex says, following the statement up.

I bang on the table with my fist on the table, the pair, Andre and Trina jump in response.

"Grow up." I stand up and walk off in the direction of Cat, Tori and Jade.

Navigating my way up the stairs, I hear Cat's sniffling and my girlfriend's voice.

Knocking lightly on the doorframe, Jade and Tori look up at me, as Cat keeps her face covered, head in hands.

"What are you doing up here? Do you always follow other girls into their bedrooms?" Jade's comment only made me angrier; I only noticed that this was apparently Tori's room now.

"Cat, are you okay?" I get down onto her level; she's sitting on the bed, I'm crouched down in front of her.

"Beck." She just says my name and cries harder. My heart sinks in sympathy.

Looking back and forth between Jade and Tori, my body language asks them, basically, 'what the hell happened?'

Both of them shrug; Tori's face emits pity, while Jade's just looks a mix of jealousy and confusion.

"Cat, talk to me. Why are you crying?"

She's still crying, but her voice chokes out "R-rex."

I sigh and lift her chin up to look at me.  
>"Listen to me. You are stick skinny, so tiny. Rex was being sarcastic, he didn't mean it; he was trying to be funny and failing as usual."<p>

She shakes her head, disbelieving.

"You're kidding me, right?" I nearly started tickling her, but figured I could cheer her up better in a different way.

"Hey!" I pick her up with easy and swing her over my shoulder and walk around the room.  
>"Beck! Stop!" She's pounding on my back, but laughing at the same time.<p>

"But Cat, why haven't I fallen over from the weight of you? Why do I feel like I just picked up a kitten instead of a person?"  
>"Beck!"<br>"Admit it. You are NOT fat."

"Fine, I'm not."

I flip her back over and set her down gently, and she's still laughing. I ruffle her hair that's already messy and she sticks her tongue out at me.

Tori's voice brings me back to reality. "See, Cat? I wish I were as skinny as you. Don't ever think otherwise. Lets go back downstairs."

My girlfriend takes my hand and pulls me the opposite direction from the steps, waiting until we hear them join everyone else at the table.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" She yells, her whole face turning red.

Shit. "What do you mean? I was trying to help!"

"Oh, right. Help. More like take my best friend and flirt your way out of a bad situation." She was fuming; I'm shocked that her ears didn't start emitting smoke.

I put my hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her.

"Jade. Listen to me. I just wanted to cheer her up. She can't go thinking she's fat when she is bone skinny. She was crying, she needed to be helped."

"She could suck it up. She's Cat, she just needed something to remind her of lala land, and I could've done it, not someone's hot boyfriend." I was getting more and more irritated at Jade's insensitivity, but Cat was Jade's best friend, so I just needed to admit defeat.

"Okay, Jade, I'm sorry I helped." I look her square in my eyes, trying my hardest not to speak with sarcasm, though I was right on edge.

Instead, I pull her into my arms and kiss her, "Love you, Jade. Always."

She visibly relaxes at this, grin arising, "You better," she says pointedly, before whispering, "Love you too, Beck."

We walk downstairs, hand in hand and things don't seem to be too bad back at the table. Everyone's eating, smiling; I can tell Rex/Robbie apologized to Cat, and I'm thankful I didn't have to pop the head off that puppet and make Robbie devastated.

"So, guys, I have an idea!" Trina pipes up, and everyone groans.

She pouts, but continues; "I think we should have a secret Santa for everyone here."

Shocking, Trina actually came up with a good idea.

"Uh, well. I feel insane to agree, but Trina's idea is actually something we should do." Andre's tone acts as shocked as the rest of everyone at this odd epiphany.

"Rules. Tori and Trina cannot choose each other, because they're related. Beck and Jade can't choose each other either cause they're in a relationship and already going to get something for each other regardless. And no choosing your own name and buying for yourself. And Rex, I'm sorry, but it just doesn't make sense to buy you something."

"Woah woah woah, hold on. I can't pick Beck? What kind of discrimination is this?" Here she goes again.

"Jade, it's okay. I'm still getting you a Christmas gift."

"NO! That's wrong I can't even pick you. That takes a portion out of the secret. Now you know I won't have your name and there goes the fun of guessing."

I sigh and stand up, going into the kitchen to get a drink while she argues it out with everyone else.

"Hi." A small voice rises from the floor.

"Cat? Whatcha doing down there?"

She shrugs. "Acting like a Cat. Kind of hiding."

I sit down next to her, "You know, I don't like you being sad."

"I'm sorry Beck. I disappoint everyone." She sighs, like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I chuckle, "You don't disappoint me. I just care about your well-being. I'm not used to sad Cat. I wish I could help you."

She smiles, bright Cat flickers on like a light switch, "Beck! You do help me! You try to make me happy!"

"Its okay to be sad sometimes, Cat, but please just let your friends in sometimes, we worry."

She shrugs. "No one can help me with my problems like these. It's impossible."

Before I can refute that statement, Tori shows up.  
>"There you two are. Here, two choices left, pick." A hat is thrust in our faces. Cat picks first, tongue peeking out the side of her mouth as she pulls out the tiny slip of paper. "Your turn Beck!"<p>

I pull mine out in zero seconds flat and unfold.

Cat.

Coincidence? Something tells me no by the way Tori's grinning at me, but who knows. Maybe she thinks I picked her name.

"Beck. Get up." Jade's snarling, tapping her toes at me.

"What?"

"We're leaving. Come on." For once, I follow her, saying my goodbyes as Jade literally pushes me out the door.

I drive back to the Silver Streak, and as soon as we go in, we just sit there.

JUST. SITTING. THERE.

After five minutes of sitting back, tapping my foot in annoyance, I bring it up.

"Jade. Why are we just sitting here? We could've stayed at the party."

"No we couldn't have. You don't understand, we were being victimized by those so called 'friends' of ours." Crazy, much?

"Really, Jade? They just wanted to do something fun for Christmas."

"Santa has nothing to do with Christmas, he's a false idol, and an awful one at that. He promotes obesity and break-ins. No one should have that to look to as an idol."

"You're going to criticize a jolly guy who brings presents to children?"  
>"He doesn't even exist!"<p>

"Why do you have to be so cynical about it? It's just a tradition."

"It's stupid!"

"Jade." I close my eyes and sit back.

"Okay, fine. Lets just watch something on TV and go to sleep."  
>When clicking on the TV, there were already specials playing Christmas specials; Jade just clicked through to find some sort of classic band documentary.<p>

She passed out far earlier than I did, so I turned off the television and crawled onto the couch next to her, my mind running a million miles a minute.

I close my eyes; there flashes Cat walking alone down the street. The next, she's bawling on Tori's bed. Then on the kitchen floor.

Something was off, completely wrong, and I was going to figure out how to help.

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><p><em>That's all for now; I promise the plot thickens with the upcoming chapter. I have been writing this story since early November; I had no idea that there were going to be secret Santa exchanges on "A Christmas Tori" – oh well! Please review and keep posted for the next update!<em>

_- iHearU_


	2. What's Concerning Cat?

_A/N: hey, second chapter is up and ready to go! This is really what gets the plot rolling. If anyone wants to suggest a new summary that I can put up in place of the one I have now, it'd be really appreciated. I also appreciate the readers, those who subscribed to story alerts, and my 3 lovely reviewers (: _

_Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Project Play<strong>

The next week, things just got crazier. Monday and Tuesday, Cat was back to being quiet and timid, and her hair was to a dark, deep red that in the light looked more brown than red. I could tell she had been continually questioned – either on her hair or even who she was. But she was putting on her brave face, I could tell that. I didn't pester her, but I occasionally would tell Cat, "Don't mind them, Cat. We're here for you." If I only knew for what reason, I'd feel better about it.

Wednesday, Cat wasn't at school at all. I had asked Tori where Cat was – her response? "She was being cryptic, and just said she wouldn't be in."

We sat in Sikowitz's class, staring at Sikowitz himself as he sat there and stared back at us.

"Uh, hello?" Rex interrupts the staring contest, apparently annoyed. I, on the other hand, would be okay with not doing anything today.

"Yes? What's the problem?" It's as if we've offended him.

"I know you're lacking coconut milk now that it's winter, but we kind of need something to do." Annoyed Jade is such a blast to deal with.

"I stocked up, thank you very much. And I am working on that right now. I'm examining you for your end of the semester project."

"Examining?" Curiosity peaks from Tori, she sits up a little straighter.

"Yes, _examining_. We need a small winter project. Deadline, the last week before break. Groups? Pairs of two. Task? The two of you will be given a movie. Pick out two scenes from them as the most prominent scenes in the movie and act them out. Build your own sets if you please, extra credit if you want. If not, we can attempt to imagine them. Props are mandatory. All of these movies – here's the kicker – are revolved around the winter/Christmas themes, because the school requires this. We will watch your skits in class and then follow them up by the scenes from the films to see how well they compare."

I look around the room a little bit, seeing everyone's positive reactions (disregarding Jade's reaction, as usual).

"Can we pick our own groups?" Andre seems eager to choose – there's only going to be three groups, it's do or die when choosing partners.

"NO. I choose genre, I choose movie, I choose groups."

"Aw, come on Sikowitz, we're capable of picking these things."

"Shut your trap, Vega. You don't need to tell a teacher what you want. He's not your precious Santa Claus." There goes Jade, snapping like a angry turtle.

"My precious Santa Claus? What? It's a culture thing. I might be too old to believe, but it's still nice to keep up with the spirit of things."

"Santa Claus is nothing but a obese lazy myth. False idol. Lets just work one day a year and take cookies from children. Right."

I nudge Jade with my elbow. "Serious Jade? Now?" I whisper, semi harshly. She shuts her mouth, but her narrow eyes dart daggers at me.

"I AM SO SMART." Sikowitz smiles to himself, catching all of our attention with his random statement, then continues. "Jade and Tori, your genre is Comedy. I want you to pick two scenes from ELF."

Tori sighs, Jade throws up her hands.

"Ah ah ah, I'm not finished. Tori, you are Walter and Jade, you are Buddy the Elf."

Oh, shit. Complete role reversal.

Jade automatically begins protesting, loudly.

"…or you can accept the zero on the midterm assignment. Which is 25% of your term grade."

Jade's jaw clamps shut.

"Andre, ah, you can be with Robbie. Action theme. Die Hard. The original. Do you know it?"

Andre immediately says yes, while Robbie says no at the same time.

"Perfect. Andre, you're the mean man, Hans Gruber, and Robbie, you're John McClane, the hero."

Robbie shrugs, while Andre smiles. They should have a ton of fun with this.

"And Beck. Ah, uh. Seems you're alone. I thought there was someone else to pair you with?"

"Cat!" Everyone exclaims at once.

Sikowitz hits his head with his hand, finally remembering the bright girl who is pretty unforgettable.

"Right, hmm. Lets see here. Beck and Cat, Cat and Beck. AH! Just Friends."

"Yeah, we are just friends." I say. That seems like an odd statement.

"No, JUST FRIENDS. The romance movie." Robbie yells out. Of course he would know it.

"**NO WAY**." Jade screeches, wringing her hands at our insane teacher.

"Jade, it's a zero for the assignment if he doesn't do this."

"He can accept the zero. 25% is not worth Beck acting with another girl."

I clear my throat, glances land on me.  
>"Jade, sweetie. I love you, but I can't afford to get a zero for a quarter of my grade this semester. I've already acted with Cat once, its just two scenes. Don't worry."<p>

Her shoulders slump in defeat, and she sits down.

"Anyways, AS I WAS SAYING. Just Friends, I guess you two can keep your genders with the main characters, Chris and Jaime, but I need to see some emotion in this piece. There, I've got 3 different genres for three different groups. Each group needs to determine which scenes are the most prominent, then report back to me so I can watch them before your acting. Please let me know by Monday."

He passes out guidelines; I realize that this is going to create giant jealousy issues. Cat and I working on this piece one on one will create a huge attachment from Jade, which usually annoys me. She becomes possessive of me like a child with a favorite toy.

Following the monotonous day at Hollywood Arts, I get home from dropping Jade off at home, despite protests, and finally relax in my trailer.

Without anyone getting on my case, I subconsciously pull out my phone and skim through my text messages, trying to quench my boredom. My mobile app for The Slap hardly has anything new or exciting, aside from Robbie yammering on about spicy foods and Tori venting about the agony she's going to endure the next few weeks.

I go to pull out my backpack, trying to remember if I have any homework, when I notice the copy of 'Just Friends'.

Ah, I need to call Cat.

Dialing her number, I cross my fingers that she's okay, happier than the last state I'd seen her in.

"_Hello?"_ A semi-hoarse voice arises, along with sniffling. I immediately sense something wrong.

"Cat? What's wrong? What happened?" I gripped the phone to my ear, feeling the absolute need to fix whatever problem she was having.

"_N-nothing. Just a cold." _Her voice etched up an octave, I knew she was lying.

Who misses three days of school because of a cold anyways?

Question is, do I call her out on it?

"Um, how are you feeling? Can I do something?" I hope she catches the fact that I really mean 'what's wrong, can I help?'

"_I'm okay, Beck. No big. Why are you calling me?"_ The stress is evident, she sounds un-Cat like. She sounds exhausted.

"Well, Sikowitz assigned us to work on a end of term project together. We have to act out scenes within a movie… he gave me the copy of it; I figured we could watch it over the weekend sometime before even picking certain scenes." Why does it feel like I'm setting up a date?

"_Wait, huh? We have to work together? Can't you work with Jade?"_ Her voice squeaks, fast paced words with one rush of air.

Excuse me? "Um. What?"

"_Beck. Why can't you work with Jade?"_ She's more-so pleading than asking.

"Because Sikowitz assigned us together. Do you really not want to work with me?" My pride kind of took a beating here, what did I do to deserve her not wanting to be working with me?

"_It's okay, I just don't want Jade getting more angry with me for spending time with you."_ She sighs, as Jade _is _her best friend. I feel like Cat is constantly restricted behind the shadows of Jade and Tori when it comes to the spotlight. She can't take two steps without them pushing her back three.

In a way, it makes sense as to why she acts the way she does – _attention_.

"It's worth 25% of our term grade. There's no way we're not working on this together."

Quiet from her end – dare I say it, she's thinking about it.

"_Okay. I guess you have thanksgiving stuff tomorrow, so Friday night? I can't do anything early that day, or afternoon. Maybe we can work on it at night?"_

I smile, finally, compliance. "You can come over Friday around seven, we can hang out and watch the movie."

Hesitance, I can hear it in her tone, but she agrees and we end the call.

Before I begin a string of text messages to Jade, I begin to wonder about how vague Cat had been on the phone. Everyday Cat is bubbly and flighty and a bit airheaded, the Cat I spoke to was reserved, quiet, nervous and logical. What in the world was going on?

"_BECK! You haven't called me __**yet **__tonight!"_ I pick up the phone to Jade, upset, yelling at me.

"Woah, calm down. I had to give Cat a call to let her know about the project and set up a time to work on it."

I hear her irritation grow.

"_I wish you didn't have to work with her. If I had to work with some guy, I would forfeit a quarter of my grade for you." _

Doubt it.

Instead of starting an argument, I just let it go. "I'm sorry Jade. I need a good grade; I'd have to move back into the house if that was the case. It'll be done before Christmas break, don't worry. Just trust me." No trust, no love.

"_Fine. So what's the game plan tomorrow? Thanksgiving here or there?" _

I groan, I had no idea that Jade wanted to couple up this holiday.

Last year, my mom tried to do the nice thing and have her say grace at dinner. Now half of my family fears her and the other half refuses to acknowledge her.

"It's Thanksgiving, you don't have to come over. You can spend time with your family alone."

"_ARE YOU SAYING YOU DON'T WANT TO BE A COUPLE? I've spent every thanksgiving with your family!"_ I wince as she shouts out into my ear, quite loudly.

"No, Jade, I just thought you might want to spend time with your family alone for once." Trying to reason with Jade sometimes is like reasoning with a five year old.

"_No. If I have to suffer through my family gathering, you do too. It's about time you spend thanksgiving with me."_ Well, how kind and thoughtful of her.

The next day, I spent hours attached to Jade's hip, shaking hands, using manners. By the time I got home that evening, the tryptophan from the turkey drained me. My father intercepted me on the way up to my room – definitely upset I wasn't home for the holiday. Never mind the fact that he was reeking of post-game beer and I had told him of the probability of Jade's family's thanksgiving weeks ago.

Oh Well.

Waking up the next morning, I was exhausted. Somehow overnight, I ended up sleeping on the floor, contributing to a few aches and pains. I pulled on a thermal-like hoodie; it was freezing for just being November in California. Brr.

Jade had texted me four times, I ignored them all so I could take my time and wake up. I stumbled off to the house to shower to clean up, and begin to help my mom out with some chores around the house – my way of making up for not being around the day prior with all of the family.

While vacuuming the family room I stop in the middle to my phone vibrating I my pocket; a call coming through.

"_BECK."_ Jade's powerful voice radiates through my phone.

Shit, I forgot to text her back right after I showered.

"_What the hell?"_ She spits fire and flame through the speaker, so I take deep breaths, trying to let her get her rage out before I speak my peace.

"_I don't understand why you blatantly ignore me like that? Are you trying to make me upset? Are you trying to hide something for me? What's going on?"_ Jade screeches out her worries out at me, and I stay patient.

"Jade. I woke up not that long ago, showered and now I'm cleaning up the house for my mom. Calm down, I just had stuff to do before I could talk."

"_I love how I'm not your priority." _There goes the guilt trip. It always works this way. She never gives me the benefit of the doubt but she'll always try to seem like every single intention of hers is in the best interest of me. I don't know how she does it.

"Okay, Jade. I'm sorry." It's easier to admit defeat than settle for another argument, "What's on your mind?"

Her tone changes, she loves hearing that she's right, _"Nothin, I just wanted to hang out tonight. Be over around six?"_

I'm about to affirm it, but then I realize that I already have plans.

"_Not tonight, Jadey. Cat and I need to start working on the pieces for class."_

Thud. Silence on the line, like I told her something unbelievable.

"_So, what? You're not going let your girlfriend come over cause you have another girl there?"_ Offense, her tone speaks.

"I love you. Do you realize that? Cat is your friend. Cat is my friend. I am working on a project that is a quarter of my grade. Please, Jade." I felt like I was talking to a child, spelling it out to her.

"_Fine. But I will not say I'm okay with it."_ Her irritated mood made me feel like she expects me to either ditch Cat or make it up with her through sucking up to her.

I continue cleaning the house after I hang up the phone, my mom comes up to me, asking, "Beck, are you going to be in the house tonight? I thought you'd like to make cookies with me, day after Thanksgiving tradition." I winced, nearly forgetting all about it.

"Oh, mom. I'll be in the house but-" I stopped, rethinking the situation, "actually, I have a friend coming over to work on a project, but she would probably love to bake cookies with us."

Her eyebrows rise. "A friend? She?" A bit of a smirk resides on her face.

"Mom, I'm still dating Jade. This is just for school." She sighs, nods, and continues off into the direction of the living room, handing my father a beer; looks like the game kicks off early today.

A few hours later, a bright-eyed dark haired girl is knocking on my doorstep.

"Hi Beck!" I did a double take; what in the world?

"Cat? What did you do!" I nearly holler, taken aback.

She cowers and shields her head with her hands, "What did I do?"

I stop, remembering who's in front of me.

"Cat, your hair?" I say gently, gesturing to what used to be bright red.

Her mouth curves into a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

"I dyed it dark. I needed to change it." I can tell the words coming out of her mouth are quite forced, but if Cat doesn't want to tell me, I can't force her.

"Oh, uh, okay." I usher her in, taking her coat, hanging it up, telling her to go ahead into the kitchen.

Typically, my mom was waiting in the kitchen, with open arms.

"Hello! I'm Beck's mom, welcome to our home." I want to groan, she was being overly cheesy.

"Hi! I'm Caterina Valentine, but you can call me Cat. What a lovely home you have." I notice her reading that statement straight off her hand, then look up. Her gleaming smile is melting my mom's heart; I knew exactly what my mom was thinking; 'Why doesn't Jade smile like that?'

"Yeah, well, Cat. I know we're supposed to watch the movie, but its like seven o'clock, and we have a tradition here at the Oliver household to bake cookies the day after Thanksgiving. Wanna help?"

"Eee! Of course!" Oomph, with that she hugs me tightly.

Simple stuff to begin, my mom mixes the dough and lays out flour on the table.

"Ooh! This is going to be fun!" Cat's practically jumping up and down with excitement.

I offer a simple smile towards her, pulling out some cookie cutters in the process.

Her eyes hit the shiny objects and become mesmerized.

"So, Cat, when's the last time you baked cookies?" My mom asks, trying to spark some conversation.

"Baked? Oh, no, my mom doesn't do that. My grandma used to be an excellent baker, my dad's mom, and she used to bake my and my brothers birthday cakes and then she'd always bake for the holidays, that's when her grandchildren used to help out. She isn't around much nowadays, so I haven't had home baked goods for a long time. So this is exciting!"

Suddenly I felt a little more thankful for my mom; every week possible there were always fresh cookies, pies and cakes sitting on the counter, due to her absolute love for exploring her bakery cookbooks.

I spread out the assorted Christmas cookie cutters, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Cat wiggling her fingers, indecisive on which to choose.

"You know, Cat, we have enough dough that you can use all of these cookie cutters."

She squeals again, grabbing a tree shaped cookie cutter as I grab a stocking shape, and we get to work.

My mom and Cat kept chit chatting back and forth, how Cat had an older brother, how her style was my mom's favorite.

"You know Beck, Cat's such a nice, pretty girl. Why haven't you taken a chance on her?" My mom's statement nearly made my jaw drop.

Cat looked up at me, embarrassed, cheeks blushing the color that used to be her hair.

"Mom! You know I'm dating Jade. Cat and I are just friends!"

I looked over at Cat for her confirmation. Her face was still downcast; I noticed a frown on her face.

It took a few minutes to replace the awkward in the room, but luckily it wasn't too long.

The best part, of course, was cookie decorating. We had red and green sugars, and sprinkles of every color.

Cat was busy decorating her own tray as I was with mine, and I glance over.

She was meticulously placing sugar and sprinkles on each cookie. It easily made mine look like a child threw on some random sugar on raw dough; I basically did anyways.

"Wow, Cat. Looks good!" I praise, hoping she doesn't go too crazy with my comment.

She flashes a smile and acknowledges it.

"I like to make art sometimes. It makes me feel important." I was kind of shocked that an answer with that depth came from Cat.

She glances at my cookie sheet and giggles. "Oh, Beck. Do you need some help?"

I grab a sugar container, and take my two fingers, bam.

"Ha, see? I'm just as good as you."

"No, silly!" She takes a bowl of red sugar, pinches a dusting of red on a cookie of mine.

I scoop up a handful of multicolored nonpareils and throw down them hard, you can hear them scatter all over her tray.

She gasps, "Beck!" She squeaks out, shocked.

For a second, I think I've gone too far, but then she takes a different container full of holly shaped sprinkles and throws them on my tray.

I start to laugh; she joins me, and my mom's even chuckling a little, before cutting us off and telling us that if we don't quit now, there'll be a ton of burnt sugar all over the place.

We apologize, mine unapologetic, and go into the living room – my mom says she'll bring us some cookies when they're done baking and cooling.

I completely forgot about my dad watching another game until I walk into the room and he turns to me.

"Aye, Beck! Get me another beer, will ya?" He says, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"Dad, come on. Go watch the game upstairs, I told you today that I have a project my friend and I need to start working on." I pleaded.

"Oh?" He turns around in his chair to look at us, especially looking at Cat.

"Ah, a lady friend." Dad stands up, walking over to Cat and shaking her hand.  
>"Nice to meet you, young lady. I'll be upstairs." And he walks off.<p>

I sit down on the couch, waiting for Cat to join me, but she doesn't.

She stands there frozen in the doorway, feet planted where she stood minutes earlier.

"Uh, you can have a seat?" I say to her, my statement coming out more of a question.

She snaps out of it and sits down next to me, pretending that she wasn't zoned out moments before.

"So what's this movie even about?" She asks, trying to change the focus of the situation out of uncomfortable.

"It starts out with this overweight, nerdy guy and his best friend, a really pretty girl. He goes to admit that he loves her, and she says that they're better off as "just friends". Fast forward years later, he's this hotshot guy and they run into each other. Things go from there."

"Oh." She has an odd look on her face. I'm not used to this. I mean, I guess its Cat being bipolar again, but it's like content happiness and this strange quietness that scares _me_. (And I'm hardly ever scared.) I miss the loud peppy extravagance and random outbursts of offended-ness.

I put the movie on and we sit there, staring at it. The more that the film rolls on, the more that I can see Cat relax which puts me more at ease. My mom interrupts us at one point, bringing glasses of milk and fresh baked cookies.

At that point, I glanced at my phone, where a string of text messages had blinked in, all from Jade except one from Tori.

"Who's that?" Cat asks, glancing over at my phone.

"Ah, just Jade checking up on me. Looks like she even had Tori text me – I guess they're working on their project now too."

Cat nods, nibbling on the cookie.

"Um. Beck?" She squeaks out, avoiding my eyes.

"Hmm?"  
>"Are you and Jade okay?"<p>

My eyebrows rise. "What do you mean, Cat?"  
>She starts mumbling. "Never mind. It's none of my business."<p>

"No, tell."

"I just. I don't know. She's really mad at me. She hates me for working with you on this project. I've heard so much about how you two have been arguing and how she's been a bit… controlling."

"Tori?"

Cat shrugs sheepishly, knowing that's whom she received all of this information from.

I sigh, unsure how to approach this answer.

"Jade and I, well. We have this relationship that has a bit of course edges. She gets very defensive, very protective. She gets jealous easily."  
>"I'm her friend. She doesn't need to hate me." She begins mumbling again. It clicks as to why she was so worried to work with me on this project.<p>

I tilt her chin up to look at me. "Hey. Listen. I can talk to her about it. You're my friend; she needs to stop acting like she doesn't trust us. There's nothing to worry about." I keep reassuring this same fact.

Her smile comes up a bit forced, even I can tell despite Cat's a good actress. "Okay, Beck."

For the rest of the time, we sit silently, eating our cookies and staring at the television. Once again, I notice how little she ate in comparison to me, but I don't call her out on it.

Once the movie ends, I take out a pen and paper to ask what scenes she wants to act out.

"The most prominent ones, of course. The scene where he admits his love for her in the start and the ending where they both show their love."

I gulp. This is turning out bad.

"Um. We don't have to do the kissing scene."

I nod. Maybe it's a better idea to cut that out.

It's around eleven now, I offer to take Cat home.

"I can walk. I don't have to waste your gas." She says, aiming to avoid my offer.

"Nope. Friends don't let tiny little pretty friend girls walk far far away to their homes in the dark of night." I say, sticking my tongue out, hoping my lighthearted tone would convince her to see it my way.

"Fine." Her uncertainty continues to surface, not as noticeable in her smile as much as her eyes.

As we leave, she thanks my mother, who gives her a container of cookies to take home, and hugs Cat like her own daughter. I know not to read into it, but Jade never got the same attention as Cat. Then again, Jade would never bake cookies with my mom.

Driving home, Cat tells me how she wishes she had her license, and a car as well. She gushes about how amazing it would be. I feel bad; a part of me believes she couldn't accomplish that due to her spastic nature. Imagine Cat in the drivers seat… agh.

Pulling into a cute driveway in the suburbs, I see Cat tensed up next to me.

"Are you okay?" I ask, worried.

"I'm fine."

"Cat. Remember what I said. I'm here to talk, and I don't want you to forget that."

For a second, I think she's about to fall apart, but she doesn't.

"Thanks for everything tonight, Beck. You don't even understand how much this meant to me." Cat just keeps on being mysterious to me.

I hug her briefly, and she leaves. I watch her go.

Pulling out of the driveway, I see a little light flash on from the dark, mysterious house. Tomorrow is another day to set sights and discover what exactly is happening within Cat's mind.

Okay, so maybe I do sound like Tori to an extent. But something obviously is wrong, and I would feel like an awful person to ignore that.

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><p><em>Ah, the plot thickens, and so does the mystery. What's going on with Cat? Only time will tell. Suggestions? Opinions? Criticism or Praise? Drop it into my reviews, I take every note with consideration. Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be up in a few days, pending on amount of timereviews I have._

_- Ihearu_


	3. Where the Monster Is

_A/N: WOW! Thanks for all of your feedback on my last chapter, it really put me in the holiday spirit! Here's the defining chapter of the whole story. This one is IMPORTANT, so pay close attention. I enjoyed writing this chapter a ton, so here you are! (:_

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><p><strong>Chapter Three:<br>****Where the Monsters Are**

The next day, I wake up to Jade at the doorstep of my trailer.

"Jadelyn. What's wrong?" I rub my tired eyes; trying to decipher what emotion I'd be battling with today.

"Beck." She whines, "I miss you. My family is driving me insane. They wanted to spend the whole day Christmas shopping yesterday during black Friday." She enters my trailer on her own, flopping down on the couch.

I sigh. "I'm sorry about last night, Cat and I really needed to get started. A quarter of the term isn't something to screw around with."

"And neither is she." I hear her mumble.

"Jade." I point my voice in a way that she looks up at me, "have you been a bit…" _be delicate, Beck, _"tough on Cat lately?"  
>Her eyebrows furrow together, as she tries to think.<p>

"She needs to know who I am."

"You're her best friend. She knows who you are. I'm her friend, you're her friend, that's that."

This processes through her head, and I'm hoping she gets it.

"Alright. But one hint of warning, I swear."

I pull her into a hug and she shrieks.

"What? What?" I pull away, alarmed

"I JUST straightened my hair. Don't ruin it, seriously."

I take a breath and back off.

We spend the next hour or so in each other's company – she talks a lot about the time she spent at Tori's working last night; apparently Trina was having a temper tantrum for not being able to act within the play.

We go spend the rest of the day hanging out, going out and grabbing food, watching a movie in theaters and trying to act normal. Our conversations are basically her talking to me, which I take, aiming to calm the waters between us.

Eventually, she says, "You should take this opportunity to go work with Cat. That way, we both won't be sitting around while the other is busy."

I agree with her, we say our goodbyes.

When I'm driving back from Jade's house, ironically, my phone begins to ring.

_**Cat**__. _

"Hello?" I ask, curious as to what's compelled her to call me.

"_Beck!"_ I hear Cat say, practically crying out. I hear sniffling and incoherent words following that.

"I'm in the car already, I'm coming to your house. Sit tight, okay? I'm almost there." All of a sudden, there's this urgency within that I can't ignore.

I don't even know why – I don't even know what's causing Cat to be upset, but my intuition is telling me that I need to haul ass over there.

I find an empty spot on the street to park, and jog up the sidewalk to her house.

No cars in her driveway; contrary to the lone car parked there last night when I dropped Cat off.

Hurriedly, I get to the doorstep and knock.

"H-hi." She stutters. She's okay. I'm hugging her, silently thanking that she's physically okay, and she jumps.

Huh? "What's wrong?" I ask, in reference to her jumpiness.

Her bottom lip quivers7 , she looks into my eyes and says, "everything".

I close the front door behind us and let her guide me upstairs into her bedroom, so we can sit and talk.

It's quiet.

"Where is everyone?" I ask as I sit down on her bed; it's a Saturday – I don't see her parents or her brother around at all.

Tears well up in her eyes.

"Oh! Ah! Don't cry!"

"Beck. You know my brother, right?" She replies, sitting next to me and I start to think I know where this conversation is headed (who hasn't heard the stories about the extravagant things that her brother has done?)

"Okay. Well. Do you think I'm a freak?" A whole new question; completely out of the blue.

My eyes widen at the thought of her saying this.

"Cat, No! You're not a freak. What in the world makes you even consider that?"

Her eyes go downcast, and she mumbles something incoherent.

"What happened?" I repeat, in a more determined tone.

"Last week. The day of thanksalotgiving. We were home from school, I was hungry because I skipped out on lunch earlier that day, I didn't eat since I woke up. I grabbed the leftovers from the fridge. Tacos, my favorite. They're so cute, you know, dressing them all up in lettuce blankets and shredded cheese hair…" She stops and takes a breath. " Well, about an hour and a half later, my dad came home. He was unhappy, He saw that the food was gone… he asked me about it, and I can't lie. He gets angrier when I lie, he always knows. So I told him I ate them, and he started yelling. "Are you serious? You shouldn't have ate them! Have you seen what you look like? You're gaining weight left and right!" I told him I was hungry and didn't eat for the whole day. He said I was probably lying with my "so called 'acting skills'" He told me my hair was unnatural and made me seem ugly - no, uglier. So I started to tell him I could always dye it and then he got angrier than me saying he just wanted a normal daughter, that wasn't…" she gulps, and I can see her visibly shaking, "diseased. Not like physically, he meant my going to the nice doctors to help fix my brain.

"He told me that I am a mistake. My mom is wasting all this money to try and fix my messed up brain when I'm hopeless. And now I'm wasting his money, getting fat off of his food." She's trembling hard now.

"I told him I was sorry. And he… He hit me. I'm not supposed to tell you that. He **hit **me. He's shoved me, pushed me into things and knocked me down before, but never hit me. And once he started, it was like he didn't wanna stop."

She's curled up with her knees to her chin, tears flooding down her cheeks.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" I ask, gently. I scoop her up tenderly, letting her cry in my arms.  
>"Legal reasons." She says, and I don't understand.<p>

"That's not even the bad part. My brother went out after work with his friends to celebrate some big milestone at his job, so like he drank a beer or two but he's twenty-four so it's legal. But he came home and heard my dad yelling and things just got bad as soon as he walked into the room and saw my dad punishing me. My brother asked what was going on, and my dad basically said, "Your sister is giving our family a bad name!" and some more not so nice things.

"I tried to tell them to stop fighting, and my dad got angrier. "Stay out of this, you fat basket case!" My brother stepped up in my defense; my dad pushed him so that he fell. He got up and swung at my dad, which then resulted in my dad swinging back. I can't really remember the rest… my mom came home to me screaming my lungs out and my dad and brother rolling around on the floor, blood evident.

"We were at the hospital when I finally came to and realized what all happened… and I guess that my dad wants to press charges on my brother for "attempted manslaughter". He has a broken nose to show, but is claiming a lot more. He has proof that my brother was slightly intoxicated, but hardly. My mom really, really protested it, but my dad said it was his money and his nose, so he wants my brother locked up. So my mom said she wants a divorce.

"They did the pre-trial… that's the day that I wasn't in class. That's why my hair was so dark… and my father basically made it seem like my brother attacked him for no reason. He's being held with a $25,000 bond, something my brother or mom or I can afford." Cat keeps wringing her hands and digging her nails into her hands, trying to distract herself from the obvious.

"I'm going to be all alone for Christmas, Beck. My dad hates me. My brother is in jail. I haven't seen my mom since the day we went to the pre-trial."

I hold her tighter and she's just sobbing. I don't know how to comfort her, so I just hold her till she lets go.

"Thank you, Beck." She's so broken and I just want to fix her.

"No, I haven't done anything."

"You picked me up when I was walking towards Tori's house. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gone there, played along with the night's events. You even picked me up when I fell apart when Rex and Robbie called me fat."

"You're so strong, much stronger than anyone I know." I tell her, knowing that she's tried to put on her brave face around everyone.

She shakes her head. "No, the monsters come out at night and I'm so scared."

I consider the factors, and regardless of the war in my head, I make my decision up.

"Cat?"

"Stay, please." It was like she knew exactly what I was going to say.

I nod. "I will, but just till the monsters go away."

She pushes her face into my shirt, saying okay, and repeatedly saying thank you.

We fall asleep like that, me holding her tight in my arms.

I wake up, lying with Cat curled up into a ball with me.

I realize I need to get back home; my phone's black out dead and I shouldn't be here, sleeping on a bed with a girl who's not my girlfriend. It's dark out.

Carefully, I release my grip from her, kiss her on the forehead and leave the room without a noise.

As I'm tiptoeing my way down the steps, I hear faint noises from the kitchen and I freeze, watching from the staircase to down below.

I see a figure shuffling in the living room and then go back out into the kitchen.

He stops, picking up a newspaper from a coffee table and I get a good look at him.

This is the man who's verbally, physically and emotionally damaged her daughter to the point of emotional breakdowns. The man who put his son in jail. The man who let his wife run out on him.

It took every ounce of control to stop myself from going down the steps and putting my adrenalin and strength to the test.

I waited until he enters what I assumed to believe his bedroom and sit for a few more minutes until I slip out unnoticed.

Walking out to my car, I look up at Cat's bedroom, hoping she's sleeping well and that she'll be safe for the night.

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><p><em>Ah, interesting how things are developing. If I have any errors in these chapters, I must let you all know that I take these chapters from my master story and put them into separate documents. If I had it my way, I'd publish the whole story at once. Oh well, hope you guys liked this – if I get enough reviews, I should have another chapter up before Christmas! <em>

_-thanks! _

_ihearu_


	4. The Webs We Weave

_A/N: Merry Christmas Early! Here's the chapter up, thanks for all of your positive feedback and general interest in this story! I don't own anything aside from this story line – here's to a great holiday!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 4:<br>****The Webs We Weave**

Sunday passes as another lazy day; I catch up on my other courses homework. Jade hardly texted me during the night prior – shocking at first glance, but then I was told Tori took Jade's phone for the night and hid it so that she wouldn't be distracted.

Today, Monday morning, I enter the hallway linked with Jade; we were running a little late (meaning _she _was running late) so we didn't get to pick up any coffee. Jade was pretty grouchy to show.

Robbie walks up to Jade and I, bubbling with something to share.

"Didja see Cat's hair?"

At first, I think that he means her dark, deep red color I saw this past weekend until Robbie calls her over.

Red and green color overwhelms her head. Typical Cat.

I feel digging of nails into my wrist, and I see Jade's eyes narrow.

"Shh, Jade. Remember what we talked about." I murmur in her ear.

She sighs, and says, "Hey, mother Christmas! Nice hair."

Cat looks shocked, not only that Jade is talking to her, but also it's nice response.

"Thanks, Jade. It took awhile cause I had to dye dip the tips green and it came out brown first!" Her gleaming smile makes me feel proud in a way, knowing she's got strength to hide how she really feels.

Jade is about to make a sarcastic comment; I can see it in her body language, so I steer her away from the situation.

Sikowitz's class today is held 'in the place of your choosing' – he wants us to start working with our partners in different areas of the school that we won't see each other's pieces.

When Sikowitz comes around to our group, held in the original classroom, we hand him the disk, tell him which scenes in the movie that we're acting out, and hand him our scripts.

"That's it?" He says, his face falling after reading the script over.

Unexpected reaction for the both of us, Cat reaches out to him first. "Sikowitz, this is everything that you asked from us."

He shakes his head in response to this, sighing. "Not quite. I'm not seeing the amount of emotion that I requested from the pair of you."

"But Mr. Sikowitz, we practically rewrote word for word the script!"

"Okay, no. If I just read the two pieces that your script has written down, I would be lost. What happens in the middle? Where's the disappointment, the hatred, the love?"

Cat and I look at each other, and I just want to slap him.

"Um, you told us two scenes, two scenes only. We're restricted to those two scenes because that's what you told us to do."

He looks dumbfounded. "Oh. I guess you need to do more than that. Lets change this. Four sections of dialogue. I guess I need to tell the other groups that as well." He starts to walk out towards the door, and then he stops, looking back at us.

"And may I ask why you took the kiss scenes out?"

Cat looks down at her feet, her red and green slippers wiggling at the toes, so of course I must answer.

"Jade."

He takes two fingers, points them at me, and says, "you should never let your girlfriend hold you back from your life." Poof, he's gone.

Life? Doesn't he mean my schoolwork? My potential acting career? His statement alone confounds me.

Cat is looking around the room airily, not paying much care to what Sikowitz said.

"So, Cat, what do you think?"

"Needs more pink, am I right?" Her eyes don't meet mine as she's staring off.

Ah, this is the Cat that I missed.

"No, Cat, I meant our scripts. What do we do?"

"Can we dress up like the eighties for the first scene?"

"Um… sure?" I kind of don't get where she's coming from, but she's packing up her things in her glittery pink backpack and attempting to shuffle out the door.

But I can't let her leave that easily.

"Hey, wait." She stops, I scramble up next to her as we walk out of the room together.

"Listen. Beck." She begins, and I'm worried she's going to dismiss everything we've been through.

"I just want to make sure that you're okay."

She smiles brightly, saying, "Yes, I was free from the monsters and I dreamed it was raining sugary sprinkles."

I smile back, feeling a little proud of myself, "So that's a good thing, right?"

She giggles, jokingly punching me in the shoulder.

We walk down to our lockers, when I see Jade, arguing vigorously with Tori.

"Mm, I'm going to go talk to Jade, see you in lunch." I walk away, noticing the lack of positive energy that arose every step I began to walk away.

"I am NOT dressing up in a costume, you can forget it."

"Jade, we need to get a good grade on this. With your lack of… smiling, I can guarantee this isn't going to be perfect."

"I HATE CHRISTMAS! SANTA CLAUS IS FAKE! THE WHOLE HOLIDAY IS BASED ON FALSE BELIEFS!" Jade started screaming in the face of a freaked out Tori.

"Okaaaay, Jade. That's good enough." I pull her away, quite concerned at her outbursts.

"What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" I ask her, knowing that it has nothing to do with the play.

She folds her arms across her chest. "My parents want me to babysit tonight, can you believe that? BABYSIT! I hate the small fries."

I can't believe my ears. She's complaining of the tiniest thing and… _and that's how she's always been._

"I'm sorry Jade, that sucks." I say, crossing my fingers she doesn't pick up on the underlying sarcasm I tried so hard not to convey.

"Really? That's it? That's all you can say? That SUCKS?" She twists on her heels, ready to walk out to the cafeteria, but instead I grab her arm and pull her into my arms. I kiss the side of her forehead, and all is forgotten.

"Will you plot with me how to take care of these brats tonight?"

I sigh, and say, "Jaaade," in a warning tone, and she smiles.

For now.

We head out to the courtyard, where everyone's sitting there, eating but visibly shivering.

"This has to be the coldest day in Hollywood, ever!" Andre says, rubbing his hands together trying to create some heat.

I'm nearly convinced that Robbie's hand is frozen to Rex, as Rex stands slack jawed and Robbie's teeth chatter together loudly.

Tori's got earmuffs on, coincidentally they also serve as headphones, so she's got us all tuned out.

I, being the voice of reason, say to the crowd, "alright, that's it, everyone inside. Lets go eat on the steps in the hall."

We all paraded in and I noticed that Cat hadn't been with us. I didn't want to bring it up to everyone – especially not Jade – but I was concerned.

Was she upset over something? Did something happen since I left?

Conversation starts up about Robbie and Andre's pieces for the project. I just mellow out, adding my comments throughout, showing that I made an effort to pay attention. (Apparently, Robbie has a difficult time being mean, and Andre was getting a bit fed up with it.)

The school door open and in comes Cat, hands full with coffee cup carriers and a small brown paper bag dangling from her wrist.

"Hi guys! I got Skybucks for everyone!" Tori walks over to help her with the drinks – 8 of them to be exact.

She goes around, passing them out like a Easter bunny – "Eggnog latte for Robbie, peppermint hot chocolate with extra whipped cream for Andre, white chocolate mocha for Tori, Regular coffee, black for Jade –" She stops and looks at me, "I couldn't figure out if you wanted tea or something cold, so I got you this!" She hands me a neon green colored whippacchino, and I nod thanks without trying to look too disgusted, to which she responds, "It's got soy milk in it! Try it!"

I take a sip through the straw, ready to force the drink down my throat.

It tastes… good?

"Wow, it actually tastes good."

"I know right? It's a green tea whippacchino. I get them allll the time." She sets the remaining drinks down, and pulls out a box with little candy looking things inside.

"Cake pops! Yummy!" Robbie snags one, and everyone else follows suit.

"Wow, Cat, that's super nice of you, but this must've cost you a fortune!"

She shakes her head, "My cousin, who I used to think wasn't my cousin until my other cousin told me that she was my cousin, works as a manager so she just rang it up as a penny for each-"

"SKYBUCKS!" Trina pops up out of nowhere as usual. "Did you guys forget about me? I would've wanted to give you my order! I am, as you know, very important." She bats her eyelashes, and we all groan.

Except Cat of course, who shockingly thought ahead, "Kay kay, here you go! Strawberry mango smoothie, and a pink cake pop!"

Trina goes silent, her eyes shifting around the room, and then she awkwardly runs away.

"What was that all about?" Cat asks, mystified.

Everyone goes back to thanking Cat for his or her treats, and when I go to stand up, Jade's grip is tight around my wrist.

I sit back down and look at her, "What? What's wrong?"

Her expression shows it all; even her mouth is tight when she says, "she got you a _special _drink, Beck."

"She knows you like your coffee black. She knows Andre likes extra whipped cream. She knew what Trina wanted, for crying out loud. What does it matter that she got me something different cause she didn't know what I wanted?"

She hisses, upset I put her in her place and folding her arms across her chest.

Cat scrambles off with her gingerbread whippacchino, telling the crowd that she got Sikowitz a coconut crème whippacchino for him so he won't make the rest of us throw away our drinks.

The grip from Jade loosens, and Tori approaches the pair of us.

"Hey, um, Beck? Can I talk to you a sec?"

I look at Jade for approval. "I'm not worried about you talking to **her**." Yikes, that's pointed.

Tori and I walk to a separate section of the hallway, where she just gives me a look.

"You know what's going on with Cat, don't you." It's a statement, not a question.

I nod, and she immediately expects me to jump in and tell her so she can save the day.

Newsflash, Tori. You can't solve everything.

"Tori, I can't."

"Beck," She whines, "I thought we were friends. You trust me, right?"

"I don't mean it to offend you, but it's nothing I can tell or really want to. It's Cat's life."

"But I'm worried about her. She's gone from fun bipolar, to a legitimate bipolar, full of manic-depressive states. She's fine now, being sweet and buying us drinks, but ever since thanksalotgiving, she's been… distant. She won't tell me what's wrong when I ask." Tori _is _one of Cat's closest friends.

"Listen. I can't tell you what it is, honestly. But it has to do with her home life, and I don't think she wants anyone meddling in that. Just… be gentle with her. Handle her with kid gloves."

"Haven't we always?"

I smile. Cat's always been a little out there, but it's easy to say that's what makes Cat, well, Cat.

On Tuesday, it was Andre's turn to take a stab at me.

I pretty much guarantee it was **because **of Tori, but regardless, typical.

"Hey, dude. Can I talk to you a second?"

"Sure what's up?"

He pauses as Sinjin runs by, screaming and being chased by Trina with a pitchfork.

"I don't want to know." We say in unison.

"Jade's been pretty clingy towards you lately, hasn't she?" I nod, remembering how smothered I've felt.

"Okay, what's up with that?" He asks, eager.

Andre, at least, is a guy, so maybe he'll actually hear me out.

"Jade keeps getting upset with me because I've been spending time with Cat on our project."  
>He nods, understanding. "Harsh, man. I'm sorry."<p>

I shrug, already unphased. "Yeah, I don't worry that much about Jade. I mean, she'll get over it I guess. Lately all I've been worrying about is Cat."

I see his interest peak a little bit when I say this.  
>"I've noticed she's been a little… off. Quiet and timid one day, random and over the top the next."<p>

"Mmhm. I just want her to be okay." Once I say this, I realize how strange it sounds.

"Tori told me that something's going on with her home life." Seriously Tori? I groaned, but Andre stopped me from going off about it.

"She told me about it and I told her that it's none of our business then. She's pretty worried though. I, on the other hand, am worried about _you_."

"Me?"

"Jade on your case, you're obviously dealing with little red's troubles on your own, but it sure seems like something else might be going on."

What?

"You're working on a romance play with Cat. Something is bound to happen."

My entire expression changed. "It is NOT. I have Jade, and I love her."

He gives me a weird look, "Okay, okay. But what about Cat? She even bought you a special drink yesterday. Her favorite."

"ENOUGH WITH THE DRINK! Cat and I are friends! That's **it**! You should quit being concerned with what I'm dealing with and pay more attention to what's going on with Tori."

Aha, now he looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Wh-what do you mean?" He stutters, unsure of what I'm implying

I smirk, and then play dumb, "Oh, nothing, Nevermind." I pretend to walk away.

"That's not nothing! Nuh uh, oh no. Spill." He stands in front of me, blocking my path.

"I'm just saying, Dre, it's the "most wonderful time of the year." Miracles can happen, but sometimes you just need to help them along." I wink, and then continue walking away.

"What's that supposed to mean? Beck? BECK!"

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><p><em>AN: I know, I know. This was a weak chapter, but I've aimed to fill in every gap for all of the days between Thanksalotgiving and Christmas. Plus there's a little Tandre for those who might like that. __Hopefully you guys stay tuned for what's to come – I promise you it gets a lot more juicier._

_Merry Christmas, and for all who don't celebrate, happy holidays! New Chapter should be up next week!_

_-iHearU_


	5. When Light and Darkness Collide

_A/N: Hey guys! I'm so glad to get some positive feedback for my previous "filler" chapter. I REALLY appreciate it, you have no idea. I hope you all had a great holiday as well – and I hope this chapter fills you guys up with a lot of intrigue. I had a ton of fun writing this one, I hope you guys enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: <strong>

**When Light and Dark Collide**

The rest of the week was pretty normal, but I was getting to be in very conflicted situations.

For example, I wanted to leave campus for lunch Wednesday, Jade refused, and Cat piped up that she would go with me. Then, Jade yelled that she was going and stomped off, dragging me by the wrist.

Another instance, I noticed Cat in a really depressive mood, and just as I was about to approach her, Jade intercepted me and nearly got us in trouble with the spontaneous make out fest. When it ended, Cat had already left for class.

Since today is Friday, I've already got my whole weekend planned out. It's nearly the end of the day, and I just settled an argument between Rex and Robbie about another set of Northridge girls.

"Hi, Beck!" Cat's cheery demeanor put a smile on my face.

"Hey, Cat, what's up?"

"Whatcha doin' tonight? Wanna do something?"

My smile falls a little bit, now supporting a sympathetic look.

"Aw, I'm sorry Cat. I can't, I made plans with Jade tonight."

Her little smile falters, but not for long.

"Oh. It's okay Beck, I'll ask Tori." I nod my head, feeling slightly guilty when seeing her smile doesn't reach her eyes anymore.

She skips off, likely to find Tori or someone else to hang out with tonight.

By the time the bell sings for the end of the day, I don't see Cat anywhere in sight. Jade's already sitting in my passengers seat before I even approach my car; she acquired a set of keys after stealing mine for the sing off against the Northridge girls. I have an extra set of her house key on mine, well, incase Cat eats hers again.

We stop at Jade's dad's house first; she still grudgingly needs to tell her parents where she'll be tonight. Her stepmom welcomes me kindly, her little brother and dad are stringing up Christmas lights on the mantelpiece, and Jade stomps through their decorating, attempting to make a scene by throwing her coat and backpack haphazardly in the middle of things.

I attempt to pick them up and stick them in their rightful spots, but Jade gives me a stern look to leave them.

I talk to her mom for a while about their Christmas plans, her dad joins the conversation, inviting me to go chop down a Christmas tree with them tomorrow.

I say that I would love to, and Jade tells her parents we need to leave, be back whenever, blah blah blah.

In a way, I feel bad for her parents.

"Really, Beck? You have to encourage them?" She whines, upset at my invitation.

"Come on, Jade, now you don't have to be alone with your family all day."

She considers this for a second, mumbles something about how I could've made up an excuse for her instead, but drops the subject.

"So, how's the play coming?" I ask her, regarding the hard work she and Tori have been putting in.

"It's actually pretty hard. Tori has a problem with being too nice, and she _says _I have a problem with coming across as too 'mean'."

I nod, sympathizing with Jade physically, but mentally I was sympathizing with Tori.

"So what about yours and Cat's? Anywhere near done?"

"It's not too bad. Sometimes it's hard to keep Cat concentrated. But she does tell interesting stories… about unicorns and what fields of cotton candy really look like."

Jade actually cracks a smile at that.

We spend an hour and a half working on homework – Jade has this strict idea that we need to finish our weekend's homework first thing Friday afternoons so that we don't have any excuses not to see each other on Sundays.

By the time that's over, we go out to eat at a pizza parlor in town. She gets a plain slice of cheese, I get a veggie deluxe. Jade makes some smart comment about how vegetables are disgusting and ruin a pizza. I respond by stealing a bite of her slice and then following with a bite of mine.

"Nah." I smile, cheekily and she punches me in the arm from across the table.

She folds her arms across her chest and she tells me about how she caught a glimpse of Robbie and Andre's play, and she calls it "dreadful".

I agree to watch die-hard with her, which turns into a bit of a shouting match within the movie rental store.

"Jade, I said I'd watch Die Hard with you, not the Die Hard Trilogy!"

"There's FOUR movies, Beck. Can't you count?"  
>I give her an annoyed look, and she shoves the movie series into my hands.<p>

I groan. It's like 8 and a half-hour of movies.

I rent the movies – weekend rental, so we might actually finish them all, and Jade actually makes an effort for once by purchasing the soda and popcorn, along with her favorite candies (Swedish fish & colored twizzlers) from the convenience store on our way back to my trailer. Good thing, because she's been cleaning out my bank account lately.

I've kept my space heaters on since the morning to ensure that it would be warm when we walked into the silver streak, but we were still pretty chilly. I popped the popcorn and clicked in the first movie, then cuddling up with Jade.

We watch four and a quarter hour of Die-Hard, with occasional breaks to stretch out, change movies, and have bathroom breaks.

"I'm tired, can we just go to sleep now?"

We change; Jade always has a spare set of pajamas here. She lies down next to me, and I notice something's on her mind.

"What's wrong, Jadey?" I ask softly. I like her best right before bed; she's more likely to let her guard down.

"Don't leave me." She says, and she turns away.

I kiss her temple, and pull her tighter.

When I go to tell her that I wouldn't, I notice she's fast asleep.

It doesn't take me long to fall asleep after her.

_Bang bang bang!_

I jump up; I hear the door being rapped on impatiently.

Jade wakes up, hissing at me, "What the hell is that?"

I tell her that maybe it's my parents so she needs to get up and hide, ASAP.

Looking at the clock, it's 3:25 AM. **What in the world?**

Swinging open the door, I'm shocked to see who's standing there.

Cat.

"Beck." She's crying, standing there without a jacket in thin pajamas, shaking. I'm not sure if it's from the cold or from being upset. "Help. The monsters back."

The series of the events that followed happened so quickly.

Jade appeared behind me, hearing a non-parental voice, and on seeing Cat, in her pajamas, slapped me in my face.

There was a look of horror on Cat's face when realizing Jade has been with me.

"What the hell's going on here?" Jade screams at us, in rage.

"Sssorry, I'll leave." Cat takes off running, typically in the opposite direction of her house.

It's at this point that I don't know what to do.

"IT'S THREE AM AND MY BEST FRIEND SHOWS UP ON YOUR DOORSTEP?" She's screaming so loud, I'm convinced she's woken my parents up.

I take a second to assess the situation.

"Jade. Get in the car." I drag her inside, and shut the door, she's now just as shocked as Cat was.

"What. The. HELL." She's livid, seeing red, but I just can't deal with her right now.

"Do you want her to get pneumonia?" I snap at her, slamming the drivers door shut.

Coldly, she replies, "I wouldn't care."

I completely break. "Quit being so damn vain. Can't you see that Cat needed my help? You call her your best friend but you have no effing clue what she's going through right now!"

The silence between us right now is surrounded by so many things not vocalized.

I drive down the street further, following the path Cat took.

I see her sitting on a sidewalk edge, clutching her stomach.

"CAT!" I yell. She's shocked to see me. "In." I don't seem to sound so forceful, but nothing was going right at the moment.

We drive back in the direction of Cat's house; it's just beginning to dawn on me how far she walked or ran to just get to my house.

"Homewrecker." _Thud_. The word rings throughout the thick air that lines my car.

"I'm not cheating on you!"

"He's not cheating on you!" Cat and I say at the same time.

I don't think Jade is buying it.

"What other reason would she be at your doorstep at 3:30 in the morning?"

Cat's jaw is shut tight, and I don't know what to say.

"Believe us." Is all I say, before turning onto Cat's street.

Pulling into Cat's driveway, I look at her in the backseat with the rearview mirror; she has this look on her face of sheer terror and helplessness.

Guilt is filling me up.

She exits the car wordlessly.

"IF YOU COME NEAR HIM AGAIN, I SWEAR I'LL BEAT YOU TO A BLOODY PULP!" Jade screams out the passenger side window.

Great, Jade. What a perfect thing to say at a time like this.

I pull out the driveway, ready to take a full verbal beating.

"I cannot believe you, Beck." She snarls, fuming, "CAT? She's not even pretty! That's an insult to me." I nearly shot back a snotty remark about how Cat is pretty, but I knew that would just get me further into hot water.

"Wow. You would think that you would have some trust in me to not cheat. I DIDN'T."  
>"So what other reason would she show up at 3:30 in the morning for?"<p>

We pull in to my driveway, and I stop talking until we're inside the trailer.

"Did you not hear her asking for my help? She needed me."

"I need you."

I sigh. "That's not the same."

I sit next to her on the couch.

_Oof. _She pushes me off, saying, "No. You sleep on the ground. We have to go out and get a tree tomorrow morning, so you better wake up."

I grab a blanket and attempt to lay down on the hard floor.

After shutting my eyes, trying to coax myself to sleep, I realize it's not going to happen.

I look up at the clock after much control; it reads 6:08 AM.

Jade is fast asleep above me, and I couldn't sleep even if I tried. It's tearing my pride up for her to even think that I cheated.

But… **Cat.**

Why was she at my door? Did something happen? Did she have a nightmare? Why did she come to me? Should she have stayed here? Would it have been better if she was here instead of Jade?

The idea of her in those pajamas, no jacket, shaking just gives me the chills all over again. I can't get it out of my head.

No matter what I try.

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><p><em>AN: Hate it? Like it? It was about time that Jade and Cat had a confrontation, and with it being about Beck it was important to be of epic proportion. What will it take to convince Jade that he never cheated on her? Don't worry, there's still plenty more dramatic, impulsive moments to come that I hope you guys enjoy! Don't forget to click the review button if you have time (: _

_-iHearU_


	6. Smothering Begins

_A/N: Why hello! I hope you're having a fantastic day, and I'm happy to see you taking the time out from your lives to read this shiny new chapter. Hope you enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter Six: Smothering Begins <strong>

Jade wakes up the next morning and takes one look at me, still seemingly unhappy.

"You didn't sleep?"

I shake my head, my body feeling weary and weak.

"Good. We have lots to do today." She climbs away.

She takes a marker and writes on top of all the RV rules listed on a whiteboard, it says "APOLOGIZE FOR CHEATING!"

"Jade! I never cheated! Why can't you believe me?"

"Right. Get up. We need to get going."

In the journey over to her house, she says nothing to me. I attempt to spark conversation, but she refuses to reply. Each time I try to force it further, she turns the radio up louder and louder.

I give up by the time I enter the West household.

Her family greets me with open arms, asking me if I'm excited.

The rest of the day, Jade does this surprising thing where she doesn't act differently regardless of last night.

But something's definitely different.

Her hand is connected in mine, tight, in every second she can manage. She doesn't leave my side.

"Can I sleep over again tonight?" she whispers in my ear, as her dad is sawing away at the perfect tree.

I look into her eyes to make sure it's not a trick. She seems sincere about it, and I agree with a tiny bit of hesitance.

For the rest of the day, I spend time with the West household, decorating a tree, eating at a diner, and being so exhausted.

I was yawning and dragging on for the whole day, my body ached for sleep. Jade nudged me multiple times to wake me up at dinner.

Hours and hours later, we're back at my RV and I'm so tired I just flop down on the couch immediately.

"Beck! It's like nine o'clock!" She's whining now, arms crossed across her chest.

"I'm tired, Jade. Look. I didn't sleep at all last night. I really, really would like to shut my eyes for more than a few seconds."

She growls under her breath and approaches me.

"But Beckk," She climbs next to me, "I want to spend time with you!" She kisses me feverishly, all across my face, and I get where she's headed.

"Stop it, Jade, I really would just like to fall asleep."

She sits back and stares at me. "I'm sure that's not what you tell Cat every morning at 3 am."

I become so angry with her that I nearly kick her out, right there on the spot.

"So this is what this is about? Again? Seriously Jade, I don't get it. What do I have to do to prove to you that I didn't cheat on you? What? Tell me!"

"Listen here! All I can visualize over and over is Cat just wandering in here after playing fake victim and forcing herself onto you." She's breathing fire, and I'm looking at her as if she has two heads.

"Jadelyn. I'm going to say this one more time, and that is it. I DID NOT CHEAT ON YOU. I would not cheat on you. I would not let someone try to get me to cheat on you. I've been with you for over two years now, and I think you should know that I have been nothing but faithful to you, and always will be."

After saying this statement and taking a few deep breaths, I realize that if this doesn't sink in, things won't ever be the same again.

"Okay. I guess I have no choice but to believe you. But I'm serious here, Beck. You're treading on thin ice." Thank god.

I kiss her over and over in thanks, but then I beg her to lay with me.

I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Around four, I wake up with a jump.

Jade's snoring right now, and my mind immediately goes to the previous night's events.

Why in the world was Cat here?

Why can't it escape my thoughts?

Sunday, I couldn't get away from Jade no matter what I tried. She had me come to Tori's with her to 'observe' their playacting.

Basically, it's a ton of arguing between the two and I end up mediating half of it.

"Hey, babe? Do you want me to stop distracting you? I don't have to be here, you know." I offer, going to take this chance to leave.

"NO!" She yanks me back to the couch, takes the cell phone from my hands and slides it into her pocket.

I put my hands up in defeat. I feel like I'm a child being monitored.

The rest of the day into the night, we watch the rest of Die Hard together and she leaves about an hour before I get to sleep.

Lying in bed, the area surrounding me is quiet.

Unfortunately for me, this isn't a good thing. It just makes me over think everything.

With Jade breathing down my neck, I feel suffocated. I feel like she doesn't trust me, like the two plus years we've been together haven't meant anything.

And my mind keeps circling back to Cat. I haven't been able to talk to her since that night.

Suddenly, I realize I need to make a move.

I pull out my phone that I swiped back from Jade before she left, and texted Cat.

'_Hey, Cat. Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened Saturday morning. I'm really worried about you – I realize I shouldn't've just driven you home. I hope you're okay.'_

After hitting send, I lay there, constantly checking my phone.

After about an hour and a half with no response, I realize I'm going to have another sleepless night with my mind running rampant.

Maybe Cat was right; the monsters do come out at night.

The next morning, Hollywood Arts is loud with all of the chatter from people about the vacation coming up. It's near the end of the semester.

The non-art related classes have finals approaching, and I'm dreading my modern conflicts final. The professor is cut and dry, and I've been struggling to teach myself the material all semester.

I'm on coffee overdrive from the lack of sleep I've been getting, and it couldn't help but make me way more jittery than usual.

The second I enter the school my eyes are searching.

_Where is she? _

Before I even come close to finding her, Robbie pops up.

"Heya Beck, what's up?" I sigh, realizing that I won't be finding Cat anytime soon.

"Not much, just looking for someone. How's your studying coming?"

"I had to leave Rex at home today to concentrate on ALL my studies. I mean come on-" Robbie just drabbled on, and I spaced out a bit.

Then I saw her.

Somehow, she had skirted by me to her locker. Her dye-dipped hair kept falling in her face as she scooped a book and binder from her locker. She closed it, held her possessions tight to her chest, and practically dashed off to her next class.

Damn it. Something _was _wrong.

In the middle of Robbie's conversation, the bell _sang _and we walked to our class together.

Sikowitz was standing on the stage, writing a bunch of terms down for us to take notes. I was hoping to sit next to Cat and possibly talk to her, but Tori is already there.

Before I notice it, Jade slips an arm around mine and guides us to two seats.

Sometimes, I feel like her puppet.

Nothing too bizarre – more crazy than Hollywood arts that is – happened for a good portion of the day until lunchtime rolled around.

We had made it our meeting spot to sit inside the school on the stairway during this time after not wanting to venture out in the coldest California winter on record.

Jade was pulling the extra-clingy act on me while sitting there, and I _know _why.

Cat came in and squished herself between Tori and Robbie, talking to Andre softly about something that happened earlier with Sinjin.

I took a bite of my sandwich and noticed the deathly glare Jade had plastered on her face. She practically was drawing blood with the nails that dug deep into my skin.

"The library?" I hear Andre ask, "Why would you wanna hang out in there?"

"Because I made friends with the books. They will be my family now. Plus, they're pretty." She giggles, her last statement obviously trying to offset any kind of concern they may have.

Oh, wow, I may just actually be starting to understand how her mind works.

She skips off, and Tori's back in my face.

"Beck, can you help me move some props to the Black Box?"

Jade's grip is loosened on my arm immediately and she flexes her fingers in a 'go ahead' fashion.

I don't know if it's the fact that her and Tori are spending so much time together, but she sure seems to trust me when it comes to Tori.

As we're walking off, Tori just shakes her head at me.

"What happened now?"

"Cat came over in the middle of the night Saturday morning. She wasn't even wearing a coat and she kept telling me the monsters were back. Jade was livid. Her best friend showing up on my doorstep at 3 am really didn't look right to her. I drove Cat back home, with Jade in the car. I attempted to explain Cat's need, but she tried telling me that she needed me more than her. We went the next day and spent the day with her family, but as you could tell from that following day, Jade won't detach from me. She won't leave my sight… and Cat's hiding. She's visibly terrified of Jade and won't respond to my texts, let alone talk to me here." I tell the story with much aggravation, running my fingers through my hair to try and calm down.

Tori gives me a sad looking smile in return. "Beck. Jade is – no matter how strange this sounds – acting like a girl. She's jealous. She's worried that you're cheating."

Without missing a beat, I say, "I don't care! I'm her boyfriend, she needs to trust me, everything going on with Cat is important!"

Tori just cocks her head at me, but doesn't say another word. I help her move a few actual pieces to the auditorium, but no other talk about Jade or Cat is mentioned.

By the end of the day, I wait for Jade to get out of class, but end up noticing a petite figure attempting to slide past me.

"Cat. Stop." She stops dead in her tracks, not looking at me.

"I'm so so so sorry about what happened Saturday morning. I really didn't know what to do. Are you okay?"

Her bony shoulders shrug a tiny bit. She still isn't looking at me.

I step in front of her "What happened that night? Why did you come to me?"

Her face turns red again, and she's looking far off past me, like I'm invisible.

"The monster. He _hit_ me again. A lot." Her voice is shaking heavy. "It's fine though. When you took me back I spent the rest of the weekend in the garage." Her voice sounds kind of **cold** and I'm scared.

Scared for her.

Suddenly, she just takes off, as if she wasn't there talking in the first place.

Jade comes skulking in five seconds later, glaring due to the fact Cat talked to me. While my defenses are high, she just puts her hand up, pretending that she didn't see anything, and continues on complaining about how Tori wouldn't let her cut her hair with a pair of her scissors. Mm.

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><p><em>- I know this ending is a bit abrupt, but this mini chap has important aftermath. I hope to hear from you all soon (: Next chapter should be up around New Years day, or the following day.<em>

__ihearu_


	7. Haywire

_A/N: Special New Years treat for you guys! This chapter should hopefully satisfy many readers, it's a bit longer and full of action. I'm so grateful for each and every viewer and reviewer, and thanks for following me into the New Year! Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Haywire.<strong>

Wednesday, in Sikowitz's classroom. I'm semi-numb, Cat hasn't talked to me in days and Jade has been holding on to me so tight I feel like I was going to collapse.

"Okay, I want to get the acting juices flowing today! I need some emotions from you guys. Jade, Beck, get on stage." Sikowitz was being unusual as usual, deciding we needed a break from our playacting and wanted to see our 'free spirits fly'.

We stand there, Jade with her arms crossed, not amused as usual.

"I want to see you argue. Go crazy." He waves his hand dismissively, as if this no big deal to him.

I'm kind of gaping at the concept, racking my brain about something to say to start an argument, something that won't prod Jade's hypersensitivity.

"QUIT CHEATING ON ME WITH MY FRIEND!"

The room gets dead silent and for a second my mouth isn't working. Did she really just say that in front of everyone?

I gain my composure and 'act' on. "Oh come on, Jade. I love you, I'm not cheating. What do I have to do to prove that to you?"  
>Our eyes are locked and I won't look away. She's circling me like a hyena would circle their prey.<br>"Stop them, Sikowitz!" "Jade's going to kill him!" I hear Andre and Robbie pleading Sikowitz to make them stop.

I don't even care. This ends, _now_.

"No, Beck! You've been spending so much time with her, it's getting ridiculous!"

"I'm serious, Jade! We've been working on the play."

"Oh, the **play**." She says sarcastically, "Yeah, makes sense. You don't see me showing up at 3 am on Vega's doorstep."

"Do you hear yourself? You're being absurd! You know that this play is important! I don't like Cat like that. You need to realize, she has _issues_, okay, that-" my mouth shuts up as my brain catches up it. I'm back to reality and I realize that there's an audience.

And in that audience is Cat.

My eyes dart to her seat, but she's already slamming the door in the back of the room.

Everyone's sitting staring up at me, with a mixture of disgust, surprise and shock.

I look back at Jade, and she has a look on her face, like she's satisfied with what just came out of my mouth.

"If you go after her, I swear I will never believe anything that you've told me."

I just stand frozen, as Andre, Robbie and Tori rush out, calling Cat's name, and the feeling of guilt and regret fills my body.

I sit down at the edge of the stage, rubbing my temples, trying to get a handle on everything that's been happening.

"Thanks Beck. That's all I needed." Jade's lips form a smirk, and something else ignites inside me.

"What do you mean?"

"I've always known Cat's had a crush on you; you've just been really oblivious and I played pretend. But after your actions here, I realize I've got nothing to worry about."

The flame gets a lot hotter, inside is just heating up. "You knew? You didn't tell me?"

She shrugs, unphased.

"Jesus Jade! Cat's struggling and you are just preying on her to hurt her more!"

She shrugs. "She'll be fine. Whatever it is that's bothering her, she'll get over it. She doesn't need to trouble you over it."

I gape at her. "Her parents are getting a divorce. Her mother left her. Her brother is in jail. Her dad is abusive. Right. She'll just 'get over it'."

Slowly, Jade's face recognizes that she made a mistake.

"But she doesn't even show it!" Ignorance is what she settles on.

That's it. "You've been complaining about Christmas, and she can't even have a proper one this year. She's miserable. Her home life is _falling apart_. Of course she won't let it show in her social life. Quit being so damn **vain**. She doesn't want that to fall apart too!"

Jade just shrugs again, her façade evident.

"Get a heart Jade. I'm going to go look for Cat."

Sikowitz claps as I exit the room, calling out, "hey! That was some good acting! Wait! Where are you going?"

I run out to the hallway to see if anyone found her. Each of them are calling her name, so no luck.

I tell Tori to go check the girls bathrooms, Robbie to check any janitors closets, and Andre and I will check for any vacant classrooms she might've hidden in. We keep calling out to her, and I won't waste any time, thoroughly checking each room with immediacy.

When Andre is looking in the last room, he hollers back to me, "she's not in there!"

It suddenly dawns on me and I go running.

There she is.

I run down the aisle of the black box and there she is, crying on the middle of the stage like a scene from a play.

"Cat!" She looks up at me, scared and turns her head the opposite way.

I run up on the stage, but approach the situation much more gently.

I kneel down on her level, speaking softly.

"Cat. I wasn't even thinking what I was saying, I didn't mean to say anything like that, its not what I meant at all…"

"No Beck," her voice sounds tired, drained, "everyone sees me as this girl who's messed up in the head. My dad was right. I am diseased. I am a basket case."

"NO! Stop it, Cat. You're not! You're father is an asshole! I didn't mean what I said, I'm so so so sorry. You're amazing, and I love your unique personality. You're an incredible actress, and your vocals are astounding, don't ever doubt yourself. Please, Forgive me."

I sit there, worried about what she'll say back.

"Cursing is bad, Beck."

I take this opportunity to hug her tight, and she starts to cry hard again, so I rock back and forth, holding her.

"I thought you were going to become another monster, Beck, I was so scared." She cries in my shoulder and I hold her tighter.

"Never. I promise you that. I am never going to hurt you again."

We stay like that for a while, and I don't loosen my grip up until I hear,

"Ahem." Robbie clears his throat, his eyes wide at the sight of us.

Behind him, Tori and Andre are gawking at the sight.

Cat's face peaks out from my tearstained shirt, she surprises me with how much she's shaking.

"You know, we're all here for you. All of us." Robbie and Rex are shaking both of their heads, and Andre chips in with a, "we got your back, little red."

Tori, the skeptic of them all, coaxes Cat out of my arms and says, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up before next class."

"Woah, Man." Rex whistles at me, eyebrows raised.

"It's the play! Jade's gone stage 5 clinger because I've been spending time with Cat, but she doesn't get it that I need to be there for Cat."

"Maybe you should step back and let Tori take over. I mean, I'm sure Cat needs a girl to talk to." Robbie suggests.

I bite my tongue from yelling out that I want to do it, that's that.

Andre is staring at me, like he can read my mind.

"Dude, Think of your relationship." Ah, Jade.

Jade and I have been dating for over two years. I'd be wrong to just give up on us. But I won't deny how hard it's been, even before all this has happened with Cat. I felt like Jade's puppet, (although Rex gets treated far better than I do) and my main job is to keep her tame in the face of others.

My mind comes to the first logical reason to reply to them, "But…I need to finish this play! It'll cost me more than a friendship if I quit on Cat. 25% of my grade is nothing to mess with." And I don't want Cat to lose anything else because of me.

Robbie suggests having Jade there while we practice… I laugh in his face.

"I'm rehearsing a romance play with Cat. Do you have any idea what Jade would do?"

Everyone lets that sink in. What would Jade do?

Finally, Rex replies with a "there's no way the dark queen would handle that."

And she wouldn't. I can't chance it. I already told Cat I would protect her, no matter what…

So I'll just have to make do with what I have.

That night, Cat came over to work on our play, although I knew she was still extremely apprehensive to the idea.

Jade had texted me that she'd like to talk about everything today, I had a feeling she was ready to apologize for her wickedness.

So, when Cat and I were memorizing the last of our lines, I told her, "Jade wants to come over in a little while. I think she wants to apologize for how she acted towards you today."

Her eyes get sad all over again, and all I can think is how I wish I hadn't said that and cause that pretty face to frown. "No offence Beck, but I think I'll leave. I don't want to be sad all over again."

I can't say I don't blame her; I just wish she didn't have to leave.

"Can we just rehearse? I want to have this all down before your girlfriend gets here." The way she says girlfriend instead of Jade is a lot sharper than intended, and she deliberately distracts herself by jumping straight into our lines.

…

"…I always have." I say my last line, and then it's like magnetism. I'm looking into her eyes (intoxicated). I feel this pull; drawn to her so much it's incredulous. She's staring back with half lidded eyes and won't look away.

My phone rings suddenly and we tear our glances away from each other, red faced.

It's Jade calling.

Without thinking – yes, again, where is my brain today? – I answer in form of habit. "Hey babe, what's up?" Why the hell did I just say that? As soon as the words slipped out, I regretted it.

I see Cat's face visibly fall, tying her shoes; I feel guilty once more.

"Cat. Jade's on her way over." She nods, wordless.

"Hey now. You were fantastic today, We'll do great tomorrow, thanks to you. You'll outshine me like you always do."

Her smile peaks out, and I'm satisfied again.

She surprises me by pulling me into a Cat-like hug. I hug back, her strawberry smelling hair invigorating my nose. I notice as she pulls away, a large bruise on her upper arm, and it sends chills down my body, I'm back to worried once again.

_Please stay! _My mind screams.

"Bye Beck!" She wiggles her fingers at me and out the door she goes.

I sigh and lay down on the couch.

Really, Beck? What have you gotten yourself into?

No more than 5 minutes later, Jade arrives on my doorstep.

Knocking – a rarity.

I open the door and she's looking at me through the cracks in her fingers.

"Jade, what are you doing?"

"I didn't want to see _anything._" Her tone intonates that I may be doing something wrong with Cat.

I dismiss it though, and let her in.

"So." She's looking at me, expectantly.

"What?" I'm puzzled at this point; who knows what she wants from me?

"Aren't you going to apologize?" Her completely serious tone throws me through a loop; I sputter through words before I can verbalize anything coherent.

"Excuse me?" I choke out

"You told me to get a heart, and you called me vain."

I take a deep breath. "Jade. Have you apologized yet?"

She actually looks confused. "For what?"

"To Cat. For overreacting." It's as if I need to spell it out for her.

"Why would I do that? She's trying to steal you!"

That's what blew me over the edge.

I've had it.

"Quit treating me like your freaking possession! I'm a person, not a doll! I love you and all, but this is ludicrous. You've got to be pretty ignorant to the fact I am just rehearsing for the play. Cat is my friend, and I'll be there for her no matter what it takes!"

"You don't have to be!" She screeches, screaming back, "Tori started to step in, Andre and Robbie easily can at any second! Hell, if it wasn't for all of your attention on her, I might've done something."

"So you don't want to help her because I am? That's pathetic!"

"Fine. She doesn't need anyone but you, obviously."

My tone drops the anger, but is stern all the same.

"I NEED you to understand where I'm coming from."

She sighs. "I need time to think. Okay?"

I nod my head. Maybe it's better that way.

She leaves, refusing to kiss me goodbye.

That night, I fall asleep pretty quickly; my body was already pretty exhausted from all the stress from Jade and worry for Cat.

I dream about Cat and I. Cotton candy fields, Cat on a unicorn. I realize right away that these dreams are like Cat's fantasies. She comes up to me and asks me for help, I ask her with what. She reveals bruises behind her gowns, and I'm streaming tears down my face, telling her I was sorry I couldn't protect her.

I touch her skin and suddenly with each spot I touch, the bruises heal and she's thanking me by kissing me.

I wake up breathing air deep into my lungs – she stole it away in my sleep.

What was that supposed to be?

* * *

><p><em>AN: Too cheesy of an ending? Don't worry guys, there's still plenty more interesting moments to come! The play is in the next chapter! Thank you so much for sticking with me so far, I appreciate every single one of you guys (: _

__ihearu_


	8. Stage Acting Or Is It?

_A/N: Welcome back! Here's the chapter that I'm hoping you all will enjoy – everything lead up to this. The chapters that follow will be key, but I would love for you to just relax and enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 8:<br>Stage Acting… or Is It?**

Sikowitz somehow finagled it so that all 6 of us could watch and act out our plays without interruption. The Black Box was ours for the day – it was these plays or nothing.

Cat's sitting the row across from mine; I can tell she's a bundle full of nerves.

I tap on her shoulder and take her aside, feeling a complete urge to talk about yesterday.

"Hey, you okay?"

She looks at me confused. "Yeah, I'm fine, Beck. Why?"

I take her wrist gently and roll up her sleeve. The bruise that had been haunting my nightmares looks darker, less fresh but still menacing. It only makes me more concerned.

She looks down at the floor, in a way that appears to be only what I can describe to be as embarrassment.

I take her chin and pull it up so her eyes look into mine.

"Cat, we need to do something about this."

The lights in the black box dim and brighten twice, Sikowitz's signal that our plays are about to start.

Before we go, I tell her this, "Um, I need you to know though. Whatever happens, if I mess up or forget a line, just go along with it, okay?" I don't know where this is coming from, but I'm practically blushing and feel like a little boy. She nods, now breathing deep, focused.

We watch Tori and Jade act, its eerie to watch Jade so sickly sweet and Tori so… Jade like.

Sikowitz approves, with a solid A for their group.

We applaud accordingly, and up next are Andre and Robbie.

I felt like I never laughed so much. It was so much development for Robbie to take on; I could tell that he was starting to believe he was in line with his character.

Sikowitz gives them an A minus; with the excuse Robbie was a bit over the top – it was supposed to be an action, not a comedy.

Next was us. After the props are on stage and our costumes on, we're both a bit nervous, but I aim to play it cool.

_Break a leg._

We enter stage; me dressed up in goofy nerd attire, Cat in a cheerleader uniform.

I stand with a fake yearbook in my hands.

_"Dear Jamie," I fake scribble down, reading my lines aloud, "When we're together, I feel like we're not in high school, but in our own little Chris and Jamie world. Whether we're watching 'Party of Five' or practicing our cheers, I feel like I can just be myself. Jamie, we've been friends for a really long time, but I want to be more than that. Hoping to be your boyfriend... Sincerely, Chris Brander. BFF!"_

Cat comes at me, in character, softly,_ "We need to talk about what you wrote. Is that really how you feel?"_

_"I don't know. Maybe. Why?"_

_"Because that's the nicest thing anyone's ever written me."_

_"It was?"_

_"Yes. I love you Chris –"_

I act like I move in to kiss her, she moves instead to my cheek.

_"- like a brother!"_ Cat shrieks out, in her oblivious to the world tone. This girl was born to act.

_"Hmm?"_ I act shocked, but quickly aim to cover it up.

_"We're friends right?"_

_"For sure!"_ I walk away from her, and then fake-run away crying.

Cat and I walk off stage, letting the little voice-over that explains that now it's years later and Jamie and Chris have run into each other.

I shoot into a character that acts like a hot-shot douchebag that knows everything about girls, Cat's character has this beauty and softness about her that hasn't changed.

_"So, how's the love life?"_

_"Lame. Marty and I broke up a year ago."_

_"Another jerk, huh?"_

Cat mocks me with ease, easily imitating my voice. _"Another jerk, huh?"_

_"I'm just saying... you dated a lot of jerks in high school."_

_"So what about you? You in love with anyone besides yourself?"_

The lights fade from our place where we sat, silently arguing.

The next scene is much deeper, much more _real _for our characters, and for us.

_"Why do you keep messing with my head?"_ Cat cries out, shouting at me.

_"I messed with your head for three days. You've been torturing me for twenty years!"_ I yell, acting infuriated and on impulse.

_"Is this all because I didn't screw you in high school? Get over yourself!"_ She throws her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

_"After being the biggest tease for so long, trust me, I am so over myself."_ I mock in simplicity.

_"Oh, so I'm the tease? I practically throw myself at you the other night and you did nothing!"_ Her voice not only aches frustration, but you can make out a bit of hurt.

_"And now you know how it feels."_ I say coldly, and the scene cuts out with us looking away, both hurt.

I brace myself for our end scene – the most important piece of all, we need to do it big.

We're standing on a set outside a house; it is fake snowing behind us.

_"Look Jamie. I said a lot of crappy things the other night and I'm sorry about that. The truth is, I'm scared to be your friend, because I'm always going to want more. But then I got to thinking that I would rather have you in my life as a friend than not at all."_ I say full of sorrow and regret. I just want to reach out and touch her.

_"…You know that's a lie too."_ I say softly, full of emotion.

_"Why are you back here?_" Cat asks, just as softly, looking intimately at me.

I take a deep breath. The big finish.

_"Because I want to take you on a date. And I don't care if it's in the day, or at night, or whenever, as long as it's a real date. And I wanna tell you how beautiful I think you are. Inside and out. And I wanna have babies with you, and I wanna marry you, and I love you Jamie."_ My eyes don't leave hers. They're locked in place. We don't move an inch. _"I always have."_

In that split second, I know what I have to do.

I lean in,

**_and _**

**_I_**

**_kiss _**

**_her_.**

Cat is still for a second, but suddenly, she's kissing back.  
>I pull away. I'm still looking in her eyes.<p>

_What do I do? What do I do? We didn't rehearse this. _

The only thing that pops into my mind is the line that ended the original script.

_"Sorry. Twenty years, all at once. Just blah!"_

On cue, Cat laughs, and without skipping a beat, she kisses me.

The light cuts, and applause erupts from the audience.

I don't dare look at Cat; my cheeks are burning hard right now, and keep her hand in mine as we take our bow.

"That was A+ material! I had no idea you two were sticking to the original script so wonderfully! Brava and bravo!" He claps us off the stage.

The rest of them, I'm terrified to look at. I glance at Andre first; he's applauding pretty hard.

Robbie looks a little shocked, but he's applauding with gusto as well.

Tori has a strange look on her face – a mix of approval and disapproval.

I can't just dismiss what just happened.

And Jade. I meet her eyes last.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" She's raging. It's gotten to the point where I'm not even afraid anymore. "Don't even _pretend _that was acting." She points at Cat. "You… you HARLOT! You **home wrecker**! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

I feel Cat's grip go weak in my hand and begin to pull away. I look back at her; she's got a terrified look on her face and is shaking. Jade runs and jumps up on the stage, ready to slaughter Cat.

"Stop it." I say, firmly, my body blocking Cat from her view.

"What? You're going to stand up for your pity case? That's pathetic, Beck. She's pathetic." She edges to the right, I block her again.

"She's not my pity case. She's not pathetic. Leave. Her. Alone."  
>"NO!" She lunges towards me, Cat shrieks, the cry she gives out sends me chills – immediately makes me think of how she reacts when her father comes after her. She backs up into the curtains hurriedly. Jade runs into me, pushes me down.<p>

I stop right then. The world stopped spinning.

"You know what?" I yell at Jade, "I'm sick of this! I've put up with this far too long. This was a play. A play! If you honestly plan on acting so viciously, all over required acting, then we can't keep this façade going. Sorry, Jade, but I'm done."

"Done?" She shrieks in disbelief. She stands up, a horrified look on her face.

"I'm not kidding. We've been going down this path for a long time; it's about time one of us actually did anything about it. Quit bullying Cat, quit accusing me of things I haven't done, and get over this. You keep pressing and pressing and you've finally pushed me beyond the edge. I'll always love you, but I'm just not _in _love with you anymore."

This time, it's Jade pushing her way out the doors faster than the speed of light… but no one follows her… until a few minutes following, because Tori plays for both teams.

"Ah, Beck! Extra credit I see is in order for you three; I had no idea you all were planning on that little dramatic performance for our entertainment!" Sikowitz winks at me and continues on clapping while everyone else just gapes.

We were allowed to leave following our performances, and maybe that was a good thing. Jade was already long gone, and Cat was still frozen in place next to me.

I stormed out to my car, filled with emotions.

Andre was calling after me, but I just wanted to leave.

Did things really just end with Jade? How big of a mistake did I just make?

And I _kissed_ Cat! Was it because I wanted to for the play? Was it because I actually wanted to? Was it because she's just bacon?

I'm completely in over my head.

Regardless of the fact Jade was treating me like crap the past couple weeks, I feel the ache from knowing that I've lost her. She was like my other half. We've spent almost three **years** together, the longest relationship in my school as far as I know.

We've gone out on countless dates, grown up together, spent our most intimate times together, and shared numerous secrets. It took a long time just to crack that shield of armor, and now I'm worried it's going to go back up again, thicker than ever.

_You hurt her._ The thought crossed my mind suddenly and then stuck there.

Why is it that I have to hurt one to protect the other?

I arrive home, slam the door to the silver streak and lock it.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and turn it off. I don't want to be bothered at all; I just want to be alone with my thoughts.

After about an hour or so, I felt so broken down. I was regretting kissing Cat. Regretting breaking up with my girlfriend, my other half.

I had no idea what I was thinking, why I went with my gut instead of my head.

I heard a knock at the door, and braced myself.

Jade? Tori? Cat?

I swing open the door and my mom's standing there, hands on her hips.

"Beck, I called you and I _texted _you. Dinner's on the table… sweetie, what's wrong?" My mom's tone immediately changes when she notices my disheveled appearance.

"Sorry, mom. I turned my phone off." I avoid answering her real question, but she doesn't let me go that easily. She walks in to the trailer and sits down.

"Honey, what happened?"

I sigh and sit down after her. " Jade and I broke up."

She seems unaffected. "You two always break up and get back together."

I look her in the eyes, and her face softens. "Oh, sweetie." She can tell immediately that I'm conflicted internally. "What happened?"

"I think Jade and I are done for good. And I don't know how to feel about it."

She nods at me to go on.

"We've been arguing a lot. She's been getting more and more possessive of me because I'm spending time with Cat."

"That lovely girl who baked cookies with us?"

"Yeah, mom. She's going through a lot of rough stuff right now and really needs someone to lean on."

Her eyebrow arches as she states, "And you're the one who's been helping her this whole time."

I shrug. "Yeah. I mean, we've been working together for the play. Anyone else can help her, I've just been the one who's been around her the most."

She nods; noticing how emotionally charged I've been the past few weeks.

"Do you want to get back together with Jade? How did you two break up, anyways?"

I shrug, feeling kind of embarrassed. "Well. Cat and I presented our play to the class and the last piece has a kissing scene. At first we weren't going to do it, but it really helped put emotion into the piece, making it more realistic. So we kissed, and Jade freaked out on Cat. She almost mauled her, mom. I swear, she was going to injure her. She even knocked me down, see these bruises?" I lift up my sleeves to show her today's injury report.

My mom presses her fingers to her temple, as if trying to suppress the fact of what I just told her so it wouldn't influence what she responds.

"So this kiss with Cat, was it just for the play?"

I shrug. I've tried to not read into it. "Well. If I'm going to be an actor, I'll need to be able to kiss many actresses, no strings attached."

"Ah, so like that film by Dale Squires?"

I think back to that – kissing Cat before didn't seem so… so different. I do remember the fact that Jade literally bruised Cat by 'acting' with hitting her.

"Do you really think Jade would act like this if it was anyone else?"

If it was Tori, absolutely. If it was any girl, I'm nearly 100% sure.

I respond, "It kind of makes sense she'd take charge at Cat rather than Tori. Cat's way less resilient and way more vulnerable."

My mom smiles a small smile, saying that it seems like I have a hero complex.

"But it's more than that. Just because Cat let me into her life, I've learned more about her and who she is as a real person, rather than the kid we all once considered her to be. I want to know more, I want to be closer to her."

"Hate to say it, Beck, but I think you're gaining a bit of a crush on her." My mom state it, and my first thought and response is to defend defend defend.

"Mom! Jade and I have been dating for YEARS. She was supposed to be the one I was going to stay with. I can't just pick up and move on to a girl whose friends with Jade. It couldn't happen!"

So she stops pestering about it and makes me come eat dinner.

At first, I tell myself to let it go, that I'm over thinking the whole situation, so I sit and eat, watch some mindless television and go to sleep.

Of course, the night gets to me.

At first I try my best to keep my mind focused on some things, any things that separate myself from the situation.

But then I can't sleep and that's all that my mind can think of.

Here's the thing. I can't sleep. Everything that runs through your mind intertwines back to either Cat or Jade.

I turn on my phone as a last resort at 1:20 in the morning; this is worse than the time the cricket was trapped in my RV.

I have three new messages.

The first is from Andre, telling me that he's here to talk if I need him.

The second and third are from Tori.

The first one was a mass message – our Secret Santa reminder that there's only 1 and a half weeks to get our Christmas gift.

The second is a bit longer, asking what happened today on stage, that Jade was at her house crying once again.

More guilt hit me. I hate seeing Jade cry.

…But I couldn't help but wonder why Cat didn't text me.

Is she scared? Does she hate me?

I'm about to jump out of bed and head to her house to talk to her, when I realize that that's pretty creepy, showing up at her house in the middle of the night to talk about something I don't even know how to talk about.

I'm so lucky, though, as she didn't freak out when I kissed her. Did she think I was just acting? Did she think something more? My thoughts are so confused when it comes to that – since it wasn't planned in the script, was it real?

I fell asleep with all of these questions never solving my circular logic.

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><p><em>Ah! Poor beck is majorly conflicted in where his heart settles, but these decisions don't just arise over night. I have big plans on what will happen with Cat, Beck, Jade, and the situation that Cat's struggling with at home. Check back soon, I really appreciate EVERYTHING you all have done – even if you do not review, I can see how many people actually care about my writings. Thank you. All of you. Readers and reviewers, you make this possible.<em>


	9. Wonkier Than Willy

_A/N: Welcome Back! I'm sorry that this chapter has taken so long to get out – being back this semester is becoming a little stressful. This is the second to last chapter – be excited! I like to think the last chapter is a "super chapter"; I'm not sure if I should split it into two sections or keep it at one. Anyways, thank you to my loyal reviewers and readers, I hope you enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 9:<strong>

**Wonkier Than Willy**

I was lucky in the fact that I was done for break, as I could sleep in for as long as I wanted.

Waking up, I was okay for the first few seconds, 'til last night when everything flooded back to me.

I need help.

"Hey Tori." I called her first. She knows exactly what I'm about to say before I say it.

"_Beck, really? If you expect me to mediate between you and Jade again, I don't know if I can handle that. Try Robbie."_

Robbie? He's had on again off again crushes on Cat. I'm not so sure if I should go to him.

"ANDRE!" I'm desperate after playing should I/shouldn't I, I say screw it and just call him.

"_Woah there, buddy. What's going on?" _

"My heads all messed up. I feel like my brains turned to mush. I don't know what to think anymore!"

Silence for a second.

"_Tori said to expect this. I'll go pick us up some food and we'll talk, okay?"_

I sit around, cleaning up, listening to loud music to clear my mind.

There's a knock on the door and I open the door so fast, Andre almost gets knocked over.

"Geez, Beck. Do you seriously want to knock me out?"  
>"Sorry. My head's not where it should be right now." He nods, and follows me in to sit, carrying a brown paper bag of tacos.<p>

I stare at him for a few minutes 'til he finally says, "so…"

"I don't know what to do. Do I get back together with Jade? Do I talk to Cat about what happened? What really happened? Was the kissing just for the play? Was it real? Did I just do it because I've been helping her and working with her? Am I crazy?"

"Uh, well. Someone's gone wonky." He looks at me strangely.

"Wonky?" I ask

He nods, confirming his statement. "Willy wonky."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen to yourself. You asked one question about Jade, and the rest are Cat involved. I think that should say a lot."

I let that sink in for a second.

"I've been dating Jade for almost three years. It's bizarre to even consider that changing. I love her, and she's been a huge part of me. I can't just jump in to a brand new relationship two days after she and I break up. It'd totally mess with everything between us."

"Beck. I know that you two have spent time and memories together that no one really understands, but face it. All you two have been doing is dancing around the truth. She nitpicks on everything in all ways of jealousy. She attacks people verbally and physically. She broke Cat completely down just because she knew Cat had a crush on you."

I start to comment on that but then stop. "Hold up. You knew Cat had a crush on me too?"

Andre curses under his breath, as I start to freak out.  
>"You knew? How come everyone knew except me?" I'm starting to rack my brain to think back about all the times Cat was around me.<p>

"Come on, Beck. She sure as hell doesn't act like that around everyone. I think she's been trying to sit patiently on the backburner because of Jade. Between Jade and Tori taking charge in roles and everything else, how often does Cat get spotlighted? How often do you pay attention to how much she pays attention to you?"

He's kind of right there. I always thought it'd be Tori to be crushing on me, with how she often flirted with me.

But then of course there's Cat. There are little moments that I've completely looked beyond – for example, times when Jade's getting ready to go on stage, and I kiss her, but a glance of Cat standing on the side seems a little… sad. When she had her obsession in the Sky Store, she was more than eager to show off her purchases to me. She didn't protest when I kissed her head when she finally opened the RV or when I asked her to take the lead in the Dale Squires play – although she was fairly hesitant when dealing with Jade. When she dated Danny and he put his hands over my eyes, I immediately thought it was bizarre how she thought Danny was I. How jumping around in her moon bounce shoes all day led her to show off to me first. How she bought me a special drink, thinking of me specially.

"Okay, I guess I get it. Cat does pay a bit of attention to me. I just thought it was Cat being her hyper self."

"She may be hyper, but she's not stupid. Let me take a guess. When you told Cat that you were her partner for the play, did she tell you to be partners with Jade instead?"

"Well… yeah." I hated to admit it, but he was right.

"She knew that she'd be spending a lot of alone time with you. Having a crush on you and constantly being around you would be hard. Let alone Jade drilling her about it and her home life weighing down on her."

I sigh, agreeing. It makes sense.

"But. How am I supposed to know what she is to me? How do I know she's not someone I care about because of everything she's going through? How do I know that I don't just want her because she wants me? How do I know she's not just a rebound girl to me? How do I even know if I like her like that?"

Andre just smiles at me, without saying anything.

I growl in frustration. This is too much.

"Okay. I'm about to tell you something, but only if you promise not to kill me." Andre's gaze shifts, and I get worried.

"An_dre_." I use the warning tone I've been trained to use countless times with Jade.

"Okay, okay. Well. Do you remember when I had to write a song and you had me work with her?"

I nod for him to continue.

"Well. I got pretty… Wonky." Wait, what?

"Wonky? As in, willy wonky?"

"Really willy wonky. I was so crazy for her I went to Tori at 3 am, and she tried to dress and act like Jade to scare me out of it… I almost kissed her because of it."

"You tried kissing Jade?"

"No, no! I tried kissing Tori dressed as Jade! We didn't even kiss. I wrote a song for Jade, and then I went and got my game on with some different chicks. So I've been past that." He thinks for a second. "But things with Tori, that's a different story."

I sigh. "Uh. So I have to write a song to get over Cat?"

He doesn't say anything, just raises his eyebrows, and all of a sudden I get it.

"Anyways. Not to change the subject or anything, but did you get the text from Tori yesterday about secret Santa? Man, I need to get to the mall. Probably shouldn't tell you this, but I got Tori, and I have no idea what to get her."

That's right. I need to figure that out as well.  
>"Yeah, that's another issue in that. I've got Cat."<p>

"Woah, dude. What are you going to get her?"

What **am** I going to get her?

As I munch on my chicken taco, I make my mind up to go shopping that afternoon with Andre.

But where do I even start?

IT took me about two days to get the courage up to text Cat and Jade.

I knew that I couldn't just pretend that everything didn't happen.

_Jade. Can we talk? _

Instantly after I sent that text, she responds with rapid speed.

_I don't know. Can we?_

_Listen. I know everything happened kind of fast when we were on stage. I just want to figure out where exactly we stand._

_You made that pretty clear, didn't you?_

_Jade. I care about you; I didn't want to hurt you. But these things. You treating me like your accessory, you treating your friends as if they're lower than you, it just got to me. _

_I'm not willing to change, but if you want to get back with me, maybe I'd consider it if you were nicer to me._

What? What can I even say about that? Wow.

Instead of responding right away, I tell her to let me think about it.

Letting myself have a few minutes of a breather, I text Cat.

_Hi._

_Hi Beck._

_Cat. How are you?_

_Okay, I guess. I mean, I could not be. But I could be too. I don't know._

_I haven't talked to you at all the past few days._

_Yeah, you haven't said anything to me so I figured I wouldn't say anything to you and I'm scared cause I know you made Jade really mad and I don't want her to be mad at you cause that's all my fault cause I keep making mistakes and I don't want to lose you and I'm sorry._

It all came out in a big rush, but I'm really not surprised. Cat has been doing nothing but taking everything on herself.

_Cat! No way. I just thought you didn't want to talk to me. Everything is crazy lately. None of this is your fault. I need you to know this. Don't apologize._

There. This is what I mean. I made little Cat Valentine more scared than she already is.

That's all it takes.

I set my phone down, starting to rearrange my thoughts. Then, turning on my computer, I got to work.

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><p><em>To quell any ideas about the next chapter, I'm fast forwarding a bit to where the most action will be! I'm hoping that the end result is going to be something in all of your favors. Thanks for your time!<em>

__iHearU_


	10. Christmas Pt 1

_A/N: hey guys! This will be part 1 of 2 of the last chapter! I was originally going to make it a mega chapter, but it's really tough finishing the last section. The last chapter is going to be epic. No loose ends!_

_Before I begin, I'm going to call out every single reviewer for their commitment in reading this and leaving me a kind comment or few. Thanks so much, everyone!_

_:: __**Xxxx4evaSummerxxxX, FreeToLive603, xMarchsax, .Love01, Demi909Lovato, LadiiLautner, sd, Titanlvr4evr, Finally Falling, xXBeckyFoo, Red-Delicious Victory (thanks for your review about Jade/Cat friendship, I didn't realize that it needed that aspect until I read your review) Karajeannex, theworldismyoyster, SpaceAgeUnicorn (: you all are fantastic, and I truly appreciate it, THANK YOU!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten: Christmas Is Magic<strong>

Christmas Eve.

I was at my grandparents' house from about lunchtime to early evening. I sat on the edge of my seat as my little cousins ran around me. They were excited for Christmas, and honestly, I couldn't say any different.

I constantly asked my parents when we were going home to the point that I pushed them out the door.

As soon as I got home to my trailer, I texted Cat.

_Hey, how's your Christmas Eve going?_

_It's going, I guess. Mom called. She said that she'd love to be home but she can't. She says she's sent money; I should get it on Monday. Dad came home earlier and said don't wait up. He also mentioned that I don't deserve any presents, so "don't bother expecting anything."_

_I miss my brother; he wouldn't let me be sad on Christmas._

I can feel the sorrow and disappointment in through her text.

_I'm so sorry Cat. Go make some hot cocoa, and watch a Christmas movie?_

_I will. I'm in my candy jammies too. Thanks though. When can I see you next?_

_I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know, okay?_

I looked up at the clock – 11:03 – and then I started. I made sure everything was hidden, turned off all the lights, and got into the car.

Ten minutes later, I parked my car and stealthy got out.

"Beck? Why are you calling me?"

"Hey Kitty Cat, look out your window."

The curtains are pulled open and Cat's gazing out, but of course, her eyes don't look below.

"Look down!"

She finally does. When she see sees me, I see her jump up and down, excitedly.

"Beck! Beck, can you see me! Hi Beck!" She sounds so excited.

"Alright, Cat, let me in. It's chilly out here." The light goes off in her room and it's a matter of seconds before she's down at the doorstep, pulling me inside.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, her eyes wide and amazed.

I shrug, semi-bashfully.

"You're wearing your jammies! And you're wearing a Santa hat! Yay!"

I smile, telling her I like her candy jammies too, and pull out a pink Santa hat to stick on her head.

"Beck, oh my gosh, wow! Thank you thank you!"

I laugh at her expense, because, well, who wouldn't? She's just so happy.

"What are you doing here? It's almost eleven thirty!"

I nod, and tell her to pack up a few things for the night.

Shockingly, she doesn't even ask why, just goes ahead and does it.

We get back to my trailer after bouncing along to various Christmas tunes (I even circled around the block twice so we could get all the singing out of our system.) and I guide her into my trailer.

"You know, Cat, you have a beautiful voice. You should really sing more often."

Her cheeks blush, and she mumbles a thank you as she sits on the couch, tapping her fingers against her thighs.

"So what now?"

I pull out a blanket, a thermos of cocoa, and a stack full of Christmas movies – vhs and dvd for her to choose from.

In the middle of Mickey's Christmas Special, I pause the tape, and grin wide.

"Merry Christmas, Cat."

She squeals and hugs me tight, so tight I can hardly breathe.

"I'm your secret Santa, now that you can know." I shrug.

Her eyes open up a little wider. "It's okay, Beck, you're mine too! Can I give you your gift tomorrow?"

I nod, of course.

When her head on my shoulder is nodding off with intermittent yawns, I realize that we need to get some sleep.

"C'mon Cat. Come sleep with me. I promise I'm not trying any funny business or anything, I'll just keep you warm and safe."

She is a little hesitant, but crawls in with me, with blankets upon blankets.

I lean into her ear, and say, "No one should be alone on Christmas."

She snuggles up to me, sleepily saying, "Thank you, Beck. I wouldn't be okay if it wasn't for you."

Together, we drift off to sleep.

I roll out of bed at eight o'clock, carefully removing Cat's hands from me, and placing them around Mr. Longneck, her loveable stuffed giraffe.

First step, I changed into Santa-like pajamas, slippers, hat and all.

Next, I start to decorate. I pull out the tree from the only closet I have, I pull out the pre-made decorations I worked on so hard, and I set Cat's Christmas presents all underneath the tree. I set a pot of coffee on, pull out the tray of cookies on from last night, and turn on, but mute, the radio on the Christmas station.

All the lights in the Silver Streak are still out, and once my decorating is done, I notice that lights are on in my own house.

Go time.

I carefully sit on the bed next to Cat and nudge her.

"Cat, wake up." I say softly, hoping it's enough to wake her.

"Hmm? Beck?" her sleepy voice is adorable, but I can't just ignore everything else.

"Wake up, it's Christmas!"

She sits up when she notices me sitting there, so I flip on the light switch and everything turns to light.

I take a few seconds to admire my own handiwork while Cat sits next to me, soaking it all in.

"Oh my gosh." She whispers it, and I look over to see tears in her eyes.

"Hey, hey. No crying on Christmas!" I fake lecture, wiping away the tears that threaten to fall.

"What is all this?" She's in awe, which makes me feel like all my effort had paid off.

"Merry Christmas, Cat. I'm your secret Santa."

She grabs me and pulls me into a deep hug, and I melt.

"This is the most incredible thing anyone has ever done for me!"

I smile, "well, it's not done just yet! Come on, come open your presents!"

She jumps up, taking a look at the gifts under the tree.

"There's so many." She says softly; I notice she's a little overwhelmed.

We sit on the floor as I hand her wrapped Skystore products, stuffed animals ("A MRS. LONGNECK?"), and various girly things I picked out.

"Beck! This is too much." She's looking up at me in amazement, but also in happiness.

"I'd be lying if I said Christmas was over. Come on, we have to go into the house."

She nods, jumping to pull a pair of shoes on and grabbing a bag, which I presumed to be a secret Santa gift from her.

Cat cautiously enters the house, and my mom immediately is hugging the both of us.

"Merry Christmas!"

Suddenly everything is a rush, and I'm shamelessly acting like a child, tugging on Cat's sleeve and dragging her to the living room.

It's always a winter wonderland, but Christmases in the Oliver household have a greater sense of wonder to them.

"Oh, _Beck_." She's touching her filled stocking, stuck under the fireplace's mantel and swinging aside my own.

"Ah, Merry Christmas!" My dad's next to bring cheer – a plate full of cookies and hot cocoa/Christmas coffee.

For a brief moment, Cat just stares at us.

I tell her to take her stocking down as I grab mine, and the pair of us pulls out each item piece by piece.

My mom gushes out details about what we find as my dad takes pictures.

Picture perfect.

"Go ahead, open some presents!" My dad instructs, and as I reach for one of mine, Cat sits across, watching to see what I received.

"Didn't you find one?" I say to her, and she wrinkles her nose in confusion.

I smile, handing a square package in her direction.

"Wh-what? For me?" She squeaks, reading and rereading the gift tag.

"Sweetie," My mom offers, "you know how much fun it was, shopping for a teenage girl? No offense Beckett, but they always say two is better than one. Boy and girl gifts are twice as fun!"

Cat's speechless, and that's exactly how it should be.

"I don't know how to thank you…"

My dad interjects right away. "Thank us? Nah. If you want to thank us, you can go ahead and open these gifts!"

One by one, we open up our Christmas gifts. Each time, Cat is more thrilled than the last. My mom 'splurged' on a pricey purse and pair of boots for her, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone so grateful.

After we opened all of our gifts and my parents open mine, they disburse to get the day off to a start as we sit, enjoying our presents.

"Beck? Can I give you your presents now? It's not nearly as much as this…"

Her face turns red, and I stop her there.

"Listen here. You didn't have to spend a dime on me. You being here on Christmas and being happy as you are is my Christmas gift."

She shrugs, pushing 3 packages my way.

The top one, as I see, is a box double layered full with Cat's special red velvet cupcakes, yet decorated with authentic green icing and Christmas sprinkles. I eagerly take a bite, and they're moist and delicious; she smiles at my reaction.  
>The next one shocked me: a pair of <em>really <em>nice studio headphones - very high in demand and pretty expensive. "Wow, Cat. You spent _way _too much!"

She giggles. "It's Christmas! I was supposed to be your Santa and Santa hardly looks at the price tag."

She watches me carefully as I tear away the wrapping paper on the last gift.

I'm speechless.

Inside is the most perfect leather jacket I've ever seen. I had wanted a new one for a _long _time, but I didn't want to feel greedy in asking for one from my parents. This alone must've cost Cat a fortune!

"Uh, I mean, if you hate it I can find something else better for you I just thought you might want a new one after your old one was pretty beat up and Jade tried seeing if she could cut leather with scissors and I thought this one might fit your personality kind of well, but I mean if you don't like it I understand cause I looked and looked to find which one looked like Beck the most and I thought that maybe this one would work well and maybe I picked the wrong one."

I realize after moments of confusion that I haven't reacted because this is just so… perfect.

Without letting her think otherwise for any longer, I grab her any pull her into a hug, whispering everlasting "thank you" in her ear.

"You like it? Honest? You're not just saying that?" Her doe eyes look up at me in search of confirmation.

"I promise, I love it so much!" I slip it on and it fits perfectly. How she even guessed my size, I don't know. "Mom! Look what Cat got me!" I rush into the kitchen to show off my new prized possessions; Cat is glowing.

"You and Mr. Oliver can have some cupcakes too – I baked plenty!"

My mom takes a cupcake from the box and literally ogles at it. "Cat, this is beautiful! These cupcakes are wonderful looking, and," she takes a bite, swallows enthusiastically, "delicious! You should consider going into the bakery business."

Cat claps her hands, thrilled that my mom is giving her an approval of sorts.

"Mom, look!" I hold out my arms and turn like a model, showing my mom my new most favorite thing.

"Oh, it's very handsome! Darling, you seem to know my son perfectly. He may never take that jacket off!"

She's grinning big, and we're both so happy, it's perfect.

My mom makes us breakfast, and we continue the rest of the morning, lazy and in our pajamas, happy as can be.

"So what do the Oliver's usually do the rest of Christmas?"

I smile, telling her that we'd be going to one of my aunts' houses for dinner and festivities, and she asks me, "So, what time will you be leaving, since I'll need to be going back home?"

I immediately shake my head, n-o. "Cat, you're coming with me. There's no way you're going to be alone on Christmas. Plain and simple.

While Cat showers and gets ready, I sit and talk to my parents, telling them how thankful I am for them and what they've done for Cat. They insist that everyone should have Christmas, and that Cat deserves it more than anyone. My dad spends moments slandering her dad while my mom keeps pondering on the fact why her mother didn't just take Cat with her. I stop them midway and tell them that if my plans were going to be in action, we have to leave my aunts early. My dad kind of grumbles at it, but I look at the time and then realize that after Cat's done getting ready and so am I, we have enough time to go there and get back before we go to my aunts.

"Why don't you go there and after, meet us at your Aunts?" I nod, already sprinting up the stairs to get ready.

"Beck!" Cat squeals, as I almost knock her over.

I steady her, and automatically my stomach sinks.

Wearing just a camisole and jeans, there are bruises everywhere. I thought he only got to her a few times?

Why would someone want to damage something so beautiful? Especially their own flesh and blood?

"Cat," I start to say something about her injuries, but stop myself. "We need to go do something before we go to my aunts, can you be ready in ten?"

She knows I've been eyeing her damages, immediately putting on the sweater that was in her hands on, anxiously tugging it over her skin.

"S-sorry Beck. I didn't want you to see those. I'm thinking of covering them all up in the stickers that were in my stocking!" Despite the obvious pain, this girl has such high spirits that I don't want to ruin her good day.

"Okay, well I'm going to jump into the shower and then we're going to go. Be ready in ten!"

If only she knew what the rest of the day really entailed…

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><p><em>_ Any guesses? I decided to make this a 2 parter, because I feel like you guys would lose interest due to how long that both together would be. Like I said, everything will tie together in the end. Cat's family life, Jade, and where things stand with Beck. I hope you guys are happy with the results! Let me know what you likeddisliked?_

*iHearU


	11. Christmas Pt 2

**_A/N: LAST CHAPTER ALERT! Putting out this last chapter, it was kind of tough, but my three reviewers - Demi909Lovato, MariaLuvsYew, Cupcake4561 - _****_boosted my update. I finished a whole story in a few months time! I hope you guys enjoy this one, it was absolutely fantastic to write and solved everything all into one. Enjoy!_**

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><p><em>Chapter 11: <em>_Christmas Day, Pt. 2_

"So what do the Oliver's usually do the rest of Christmas?"

I smile, telling Cat that we'd be going to one of my aunts' houses for dinner and festivities, and she asks me, "So, what time will you be leaving, since I'll need to be going back home?"

I immediately shake my head, n-o. "Cat, you're coming with me. There's no way you're going to be alone on Christmas. Plain and simple.

While Cat showers and gets ready, I sit and talk to my parents, telling them how thankful I am for them and what they've done for Cat. They insist that everyone should have Christmas, and that Cat deserves it more than anyone. My dad spends moments slandering her dad while my mom keeps pondering on the fact why her mother didn't just take Cat with her. I stop them midway and tell them that if my plans were going to be in action, we have to leave my aunts early. My dad kind of grumbles at it, but I look at the time and then realize that after Cat's done getting ready and so am I, we have enough time to go there and get back before we go to my aunts.

"Why don't you go there and after, meet us at your Aunts?" I nod, already sprinting up the stairs to get ready.

"Beck!" Cat squeals, as I almost knock her over.

I steady her, and automatically my stomach sinks.

Wearing just a camisole and jeans, there are bruises everywhere. I thought he only got to her a few times?

Why would someone want to damage something so beautiful? Especially their own flesh and blood?

"Cat," I start to say something about her injuries, but stop myself. "We need to go do something before we go to my aunts, can you be ready in ten?"

She knows I've been eyeing her damages, immediately putting on the sweater that was in her hands on, anxiously tugging it over her skin.

"S-sorry Beck. I didn't want you to see those. I'm thinking of covering them all up in the stickers that were in my stocking!" Despite the obvious pain, this girl has such high spirits that I don't want to ruin her good day.

"Okay, well I'm going to jump into the shower and then we're going to go. Be ready in ten!"

By the time we're in the car, Cat is gushing about how much she loves everything she got and she likes that I wore her jacket and she thinks its silly how many pictures my mom took and that my dad was actually good at trying to convince her Santa was real and she was a little nervous she'd scare off my relatives.

There's no way the last part could be true; everyone was terrified of Jade, Cat is like an angel in comparison.

"Where are we going first?" She notices that we're going in town, and I'm curious if she's picked up on exactly the direction I've taken.

"Someplace." The ambiguity in my voice just makes her more and more intrigued.

When we pull onto the street that her brother's jail is on, I slowed down to turn and she gasps.

"You have family in here too?"

I can't help but laugh, typical Cat to not put two and two together.

"I don't have family in here, dear. But you do." I park, turn off the car, unlock my seatbelt and hand her a visitor's pass.

"Really?"

"Come on. I know it's not much, but it is Christmas and I know that your brother wouldn't want you sad. I talked to the prison and visitation for Christmas has extended hours, in the kitchen with a bit more security."

"I, I can't even-" She's struggling for words, but I just smile and get out of the car, beckoning her to follow.

We pass through the gate guards and then pass through security guards.

When we get to the kitchen, we sit at a table, and guards bring out Cat's brother, Alex Valentine.

When Cat sees him, she immediately has tears streaming down her face and runs up and hugs him, while he starts crying at the sight of her. I even get a bit teary eyed.

This guy in front of me looks to be in his twenties, aside from a young looking face. He has Cat's mannerisms, and her eyes.

When they're finally done with their greetings, Alex shakes my hand and sits across from me.

"I don't think I can thank you enough for bringing Cat here." He sounds strong, although I can tell is just an innocent man in a guilty man's position.

Cat starts talking up a storm about how I was Cat's secret Santa, how I made Christmas like she was young again, how my parents are so sweet and how she received fantastic gifts and how we're eating at my relatives hosue tonight for dinner.

Alex encourages Cat to tell him more detail of everything, possibly to keep her talking rather than ask how he is.

"I miss you big brother. Are you doing okay here? I feel like I should volunteer and paint the walls with cupcake pictures."

He smiles, obviously expecting this question.

"I'm okay as I can be in jail. I made friends with a twenty one year old that got caught stealing. Thing is, he's laid off from his job and he was trying to get Christmas gifts for his two year old. He regrets stealing, but even I know that this shouldn't've been punished this far."

I glanced over and noticed Cat was staring off into space. My guess was that as soon as she heard the word "daughter".

"Hey, Cat? Can you do us a favor and go up & grab some Christmas cookies?" I ask, motioning to a line within the kitchen, with a plethora of Christmas foods.

She snaps out of it as soon as I start to speak. "Oh! Kay kay!"

She skipped away, and I finally had a chance to talk to Alex alone.

"So how is Cat _really _doing?" He's curious, I sense he knows things aren't ideal.

"It's been a bit of a rollercoaster…" I say, unsure of how to approach it.

"My sister might have her moments, but walking into my dad hitting her was completely… unreal. _My little sister._ She doesn't even weigh a hundred pounds!"

I told him I understood, that if I was in the same situation I'd do the same as him. I reluctantly told him more. "Since your mom has gone to live with your grandma… Cat and your dad have been alone. I've been trying to keep her safe as much as possible."

"Has he hit her again?"

Instead of saying yes, I just give him a look, Cat's approaching with a tray of sweets, and instead of turning the mood sour, we take the rest of the time eating and talking and laughing, until visiting hours are nearly over.

"Alright Kitty Cat. I want you to stay safe. My trail is in 12 days. I'll be strong if you'll be strong if you'll be strong, okay?" They hug each other tight and after he kisses her forehead, he says to her, "hey, don't go dying your hair again. It's less than two weeks and we might be together again."

A few more tears slip out of her eyes. "I'm so so so so sorry! This is my entire fault! If I didn't make him mad…" Cat begins blaming herself all over again, my heart sinks.

"Stop it. This is not your fault. You need to realize that. This was his fault and his fault only. He has no right to treat anyone like that, especially you. It's going to be okay, I promise."

"I promise I'll take care of you, Cat. He's not going to lay his hands on you ever again if I can help it."

She's sniffling now, but nodding in affirmation.

She says goodbye once again, and I tell him I'm going to take care of Cat; he smiles and tells me he knows I will.

When Cat and I get out to my car, she's silent. I attempt to make small talk 'til we get there, putting on a Christmas radio station and asking her questions about if she enjoyed seeing Alex.

"He said he might get out in twelve days." After three wordless answers, this is the first to come from her mouth.

"Yeah that's great, I can't wait for you to welcome him home!" I say with a smile.

But when I glance over, she's not smiling.

"He said might. Which might mean he might not."

"Don't think like that. There isn't a case to prosecute him. He just needs to plead self defense…" I start to tell her that she should take the stand when it comes to it, but I don't know if she'd be strong enough to testify against her father.

"I'm scared Beck. I can't tell what is going to happen from one day to the next."

I don't want her feeling hopeless like this. "It's all going to be okay." I feel pathetic in saying that; it hardly conveyed how I feel.

"How can you promise that? My dad already put him in prison! My own brother, his own son, and the one whose been trying to save me from pain! If that can happen, what can't? My mother doesn't care about me either, she saw exactly what was going on and just left." Her tone no longer is upset; desperation and hopelessness is in its place.

"Hey! Look at me. I'm NEVER going to leave you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I will spend every single second with you if you need it."

She nods, wiping away stray tears.

We get to my cousins house, and she's nervous all over again. A good nervous, which makes me hopeful everything will continue to be okay.

Opening her door, I help her out of the car and tell her that she'll be fine, that my family will love her.

As we enter, right away we are bombarded with my family welcoming us. My aunt B, the one who's house this is, takes Cat right away and hugs her. "My, what a wonderful Christmas spirit you have! I love your hair!"

Finally calm, Cat begins to talk and talk, more and more of my family members listen in.

My family on my dad's side is quite big – he was one of five and majority of my aunts and uncles decided to have a lot of children. I have cousins from age 30 to 1 ½.

One of them, Nora, is standing behind my uncle George, staring at Cat intently.

I smile, understanding. She might be eleven, but her dream is to be a hairstylist. She's owned multiple hairstyling computer games and has her own slew of Barbie heads that she teases and cuts and colors until they are irreversibly damaged.

Cat, with her bright red hair and dye dipped green ends is like her idol.

When we go through and get food, I purposely sit at one of the kids' tables just so we could mingle with the younger generation.

"Hi!" Aeden, Calliope, Matty and Ryder are sitting at our table, with Nora sitting directly next to Cat and one of my cousins – Seth, who's a few months younger than me – sits next to me and talks about sports.

Cat and I spend the rest of the time talking to everyone. After dinner, we play Uno attack, race around a hot wheels track and Cat gets shadowed in her every movement from Nora.

After I lost in another game of hide and seek, Ryder drops the bomb.

"Cat, how come you're here and not with your family?" His six-year-old brain can't process it and I nearly jump in with an answer of avoidance.

"Because, your family is so much fun!" She squeals, tagging him and yelling, "you're it!"

When majority of the kids were passed out exhausted and half of the adults were drunk off of Christmas spirits, we decide to get going.

On our way back, Cat and I decide to play a game where we count Christmas lights on each side of the street. After we get into a playful argument about whether or not a lit up snowman counts as a Christmas decoration, Cat tells me we need to turn and go to her house.

"Uh, do you have to?"

She smiles, fear in her eyes but a steady voice, saying "not going there would be like putting a unicorn in a roller rink." Which I think means it's the elephant in the room.

"I'll make you a deal. We go to your house, but if we do, you stay at my place tonight."

She agrees, and I just can't shake the uneasy feeling of going back to the terrible place.

I just turn up the Christmas music a little louder, and we sing along going down her road until all of a sudden she shouts,

"Hey! There's a present on my doorstep!"

This girl must have spectacular eyesight, because it takes me a few seconds to see it.

Propped up against the door, there lies a bright green package with red ribbon and a curly red and green bow.

"Maybe it's for me! Maybe it's from someone from my family! Maybe it's from my mom!" I'd love to say yes, but I worry she's getting her hopes up.

I follow her out of the car; happy that Cat is distracted enough to not realize her father is home.

"It's to me!" The package has a gift tag that says, "To: Cat" but no evidence as to who the mysterious person is. To cat, this makes it all the more intriguing. She tears open the paper and is excited to see what lies inside.

Cat pulls out a pair of sweatpants with bright colored cupcakes all over them, and a furry hat – a cat, of course – that has mitten paws attached to it.

"Lookit, Beck! I'm Cat in a hat!" She giggles.

As she paws me with her faux mittens, I notice that there's a piece of paper folded up to be as big as a receipt.

_Cat, _

_I apologize for everything that's happened lately, I know you don't deserve it. I messed up, and I don't want you to be afraid of me or hate me any longer. You are my friend, so I care about you, and if you ever want to talk to me or come hang out, just let me know. Hope you accept these Christmas gifts, but don't expect me to grovel the next time I see you _

_P.s. – tell Beck I overreacted, and I promise to behave from now on whenever I see things._

_P.s.s. – try not to wear these things around me too much, my scissors might find a liking to them._

And just like that, I found out Jade does have a conscience.

I carried the box for Cat as she took a key and entered the house; it was eerily quiet.

"Okay," I say in a hushed tone, "go up to your room and get everything you can think of. Pack anything you think is important and you think you need. I'll be waiting. Call me if you need help carrying anything." Hurry, I said mentally. This house was like a ticking time bomb, but I don't want to scare her by rushing her.

Cat takes a second to look at me strangely, and I know that she's wondering why she's taking so much for one night.

After a few minutes, I take a seat on a chair in the foyer, and that's when I hear it. Heavy footsteps.

Then, a voice. "_Now _you decide to come home." Definitely not Cat.

I sprint up the steps gingerly, careful not to make noise, not to disturb their conversation.

"S-sorry daddy, I was out doing Christmas stuff." She's stammering, nervous.

"Christmas?" He spat, "You think that your father should be alone on Christmas?"

Her tone after turns to guilt, shame. "N-no. I thought you wouldn't be here."

"You thought? You know, I believed that these doctors would fix your mental handicaps. Obviously, you're a lost cause."

"I'm sorry! I was wrong!" She's pleading now, begging him to accept her apology.

"Damn right you were wrong. What the hell are you doing? Packing? You think you can just leave? Quit acting like a slut, just like your mother. To hell with her. To hell with the both of you!"

And that's when I hear it.

**Bam.**

I rush into the room right as Cat's stumbling back and raising her hand to the now swollen cheek.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I yell at him, stepping in front of her to protect her.

"Who the hell are you?" His eyes narrow at me, skeptical.

"I'm Cat's friend. She's staying with me." I look him square in the eye, no fear.

He starts to laugh. "Kid, do yourself a favor and quit now. This girl is defected."

"This _girl _is your daughter! She has loved you and looked up to you all of her life. You're hurting her, and I'm not going to let that happen."

He pulls her away from me and twists her arm. "She's mine. You can go home now."

Mr. Valentine expects me to give up on her. I wanted to hit him so badly, to take Jade's scissors to him…

"NO. She's coming home with me." I won't back down. He can hurt me all he wants, but Cat will never deserve it. I look over at Cat, and she's grimacing from how tight her father holds her wrist. "Let her go!"

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Call the police." His eyes widen, until he lets the words settle – gaining a smirk.

"You'd think they'd believe you? Especially when I tell them that you're covering up your own actions?" My own actions? … he'd try and pin me for his abuse? Just like he did with Alex. My mind is spinning.

"I will not let you hurt this beautiful girl any longer. Don't keep her here to hurt her."

He sneers at the mere idea of letting her go.

"She's my daughter. I decide what's best for her."

Tears are streaming down her face, but she remains silent.

"I decide where she sleeps, I decide what she eats. I decide where she goes; I decide what her punishments are. I raised her, I paid countless money to doctors and councilors and therapists. She needs to know her place and quit acting like a child!"

"Dad…" Cat whimpers quietly.

Mr. Valentine laughs, loosens his grip on her wrist and instead grabs her by the shoulders and digs his nails in.

"What, Cat? Go ahead and speak. Your lovely father would like to hear what you have to say."

She shifts her eyes between the two of us, saying, "please. Just please, let me go." She looks at him gravely, in a sense torn.

He realizes that what she's saying and his face begins to redden.

"Cat!" I yell, but her father is too quick. At the same time, he pushes her forcefully and trips her; she goes flying head first into the floorboards.

"You bastard! That's your daughter!" I swear at him, aggressively. I rush over to her; she's cringing – there's blood oozing from a cut on her head and her hip is bruising, a minor cut bleeding.

I gather up her bags and pick her up too. I feel no weight of everything, carefully placing the box from Jade in her hands and I rush out, adrenalin pumping through my veins as we hurry into the car.

"Cat!" I yell as I burn out of the driveway.

"Mmmhm?" She murmurs

"Are you okay? What hurts the most? CAT!" I keep yelling at her, keeping her alert so she won't fall asleep if she has a concussion.

"I'm fine Beck, quit yelling. My head kind of hurts and my wrist is really sore." I look at her, not believing it's that minor, but instead of going straight to the hospital, we go back to my house.

I carry her inside, leaving everything else in the car.

"Beck, I can walk." She says meekishly, and I ignore that.

"Hello? Mom? Dad!" I say, eagerly, hoping they would hear my pleas without having to go looking for them. I gently set Cat down on the couch overly examining her again and again.

My dad comes into the room first, sees Cat and rushes to her side, calling my mom again, which comes rushing in.

"What happened?" they demand, fearful and confused.

"We went back to Cat's house to get her stuff and her dad intercepted us." My blood is boiling, and I'm angry at myself for not hitting him, not strangling him, not doing better to protect her.

My mom goes to get a first aid kit, while my dad looks at me, asking if I hurt him. "No." I say, visibly ashamed of myself.

He sighs, saying, "Beck, that's a good thing. He can't retaliate legally if you didn't touch him."

I look to Cat and back to my dad. "He says that if I try to charge him with assault against her, he'll pin it on me. He put Cat's brother in jail, he thinks he will to me too."

He looks at me sternly, and seriously says, "That will not happen. Never."

My mom comes back, taking icepacks to her wrist and cheek, asking Cat if she can clean the wound on her head; if it's as deep as she thinks, Cat might need stitches.

Cat gives me a horrified look, scared of hospitals and more pain.

I kneel down to her side, taking her uninjured hand. "Shh, Cat, it's okay. I'm here. My parents are here. No more monsters, okay? We're the good guys."

She squeezes my hand hard as my mom cleans the cut with alcohol, also cleaning the one on her hip and other scratches so they won't get infected.

"Stitches." My mom nods at me, and Cat's eyes get wide.

My dad comes over to her, aiming to calm her down. "Listen. I was in the army for 27 years and I went overseas for 5 tours of duties. I know how to put in stitches here, if you would rather do that instead of going to a hospital." The idea calms her, and she nods with a quiet, "yes, please."

I make her look at me, straight in the eyes, and not look away. I tell her to squeeze my hand tight as she wants. She does.

After, I go and get her some Christmas cookies, a blanket, and we curl up together across from the fire in the fireplace.

"Listen, Cat. I want you to do something for me."

"Anything, Beck! You're my hero!" She smiles kindly.

"I want you to stay here. Live here, in my old room upstairs. My parents are already on board; it's all your call. If you don't want to stay here you could stay at Tori's or Jade's – just as long as you don't go back to that house. Never go there alone." I feel like I'm pleading at this point, but to be honest, I don't have to sway it.

"Of course. I'd love to stay here. I like your family." There's a little bit of pain in her voice, and I shake my head.

"Cat, you're pretty much a part of this family now." She hugs me – gingerly, cautious as to not hit any more of her injuries.

And she smiles.

And she takes me in her arms,

And she holds me tight,

And she doesn't let go, no, not until I remember.

"Cat, can you come to the kitchen with me for a second?"

She nods, slowly getting up and following me. I stop in the entrance, and grin childishly.

"What?"

I look up, and she follows my eyes.

_Mistletoe._

"Beck! That's mistletoe!"

I nod, but I pull her further into the kitchen.

She's confused, and a little disappointed.

"Cat, I wanted you to see that. Because I don't want you to think I'm going to do this for any other reason other than for me."

"Do what-" She begins to ask.

I kiss her.

And she kisses back.

CBCBCBCBC

_Epilogue_

_Following the events of Christmas day, Cat's been staying at our house ever since. We went to the police station – my parents, Cat and I – and took out a restraining order against Bill Valentine. I wanted to make sure that man would never touch my Cat ever again. Surprising us all, Cat spoke up about the abuse – about how Alex was defending her and he had gone on another rampage, showing the officers her bruises and cuts, begging them to not listen if her father said that it was Beck that did it. _

_After that, we were at the station for a long time after… but with good results. The sheriff came and talked to us, telling us how he ordered for an immediate release of Alex, and an order for arrest of Bill Valentine. He told Cat how brave she was for coming to us about it, and she cried and hugged him. He gave her a sticker and she immediately was happy. _

_Not even twenty minutes after we were home, the station called and said that they had Mr. Valentine in custody and were booking him now. _

_ Alex moved out into his own apartment – he always comes over to the house to visit us, so thankful for what we've done for Cat. _

_ As far as Cat and I go, we're not in a relationship just yet. Cat and Jade are reforming their friendship, and I don't want to jump into something when neither of us is ready – her with the family trauma and me just jumping out of one relationship to the next. _

…_But it's not like I don't sneak into her room and make sure there are no monsters around. I may crawl into bed with her and fall asleep holding her. We might sneak kisses here and there, and maybe hold hands under the table. _

_And she is mine, and I am hers, and nothing will change that._

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Let me know how you liked this? _**

_iHearU


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